Push Me, Pull You
by vulnerable88
Summary: Now that Ty's out of the way, Emmett thought everything would be great between him and Bay. That is, until John and Kathryn announce that Travis will be moving in. What will happen now?
1. Chapter 1

Emmett Bledsoe leaned back on his bed, his hands crossed under his head. He glanced at the picture sitting on his desk and smiled. _Things sure have changed_, he thought. _A few months ago, I never would have guessed that I'd be sitting here, thinking about my girlfriend. _He let out a laugh.

The picture he was looking at showed him and his girlfriend sitting on the grass in the park, laughing while looking at each other. They had asked a stranger in the park to take the picture, but just before the flash went off, Emmett tickled her, and then looked at her to see her reaction. She started laughing and looked at him, and that's how the picture came to be. Despite the cliché, it was Emmett's favorite picture.

It was really pretty funny because for years, Emmett had always pictured himself with Daphne. After all, she was beautiful, funny, smart, and _deaf_. It wasn't logical for someone deaf and someone hearing to date; they couldn't possibly understand each other's worlds! Then, Daphne's world turned on its head when she discovered that Regina Vasquez, the only mother she'd ever known, was not actually her biological mother. Daphne had been switched at birth with another girl named Bay Kennish, who had grown up in a wealthy family with 2 parents and a brother. Well, at least Bay had _thought_ they were her two parents and brother. When the mistake was discovered, Daphne and her mother and grandmother moved into the guest house at the Kennishes'. Things were pretty weird for a while, but then everyone seemed to settle into some sort of this-is-weird-but-we'll-try-to-make-this-situation-that-only-happens-in-books-work-somehow.

Daphne and he kept up their friendship, although there were a few sticky moments when he got jealous/mad because she was dating Liam. Thankfully, she broke things off with Liam and things went back to normal…or as normal as things could be, considering the circumstances. One day, he was waiting for Daphne to come out from her cooking class at Buckner when Bay came up to him. Truth be told, it was a little strange because they'd never really talked at all before. After the first couple of seconds, though, it became more natural and actually enjoyable to talk with her. He was a photographer, she was liked to draw and paint. They were both artists. She soon enlisted his help in searching for her father. As they followed the leads like amateur detectives, they bonded some more. He found that even though Bay was hearing and didn't know all that much sign language, she was spunky, smart, and funny, and pretty quick at catching on to the sign he incorporated into their conversations. She was pretty cute, too.

His friendship with Bay was kept kind of on the DL for a while until Daphne walked in on him with Bay. Granted, it was probably one of the more awkward positions he'd ever found himself in because he had just been teaching Bay the sign for love, but it could've been worse. Probably. When Daphne realized they were searching for Bay's father, she was not pleased. Bay told him to follow Daphne, but when he caught up to her, she was mad. Eight years of knowing someone pays off, though, because he had a strong feeling that Daphne would show up to come with Bay and him to the club that night. He was right. The club was a bust as they didn't even find Bay's father, but at least they all went out for drinks after. The next day at school, Daphne confronted him about his relationship with Bay. He told her in no uncertain terms that nothing was going on between them…and really, he thought it was true!

Later that night, though, he was at home and thinking, and Bay's face popped into his head. He thought about how excited she was at the prospect of meeting her real father and how down she had been when she thought the license plate lead was a dud. He thought about how much it meant to him when she said, "You're the best listener I know," and how cute she looked when she said, "Wow, I have no gaydar." He thought about how proud she looked when she showed him that she knew how to sign "I think I found my dad," and how she shared a look with him when Daphne seemed so upset at the thought of them rifling through the mysterious guitar case.

It was then that he realized that maybe he had inadvertently lied to Daphne.

The next day, he waited for Bay outside Buckner Hall. When she saw him, she smiled at him, clearly happy to see him, and his heart beat a little faster. Initially she thought he was there for Daphne, but he quickly dissuaded her of that notion. "I came here to see you," he signed to her.

She didn't want him to tell her anything else about her dad, but he wasn't there for that either.

"Daphne and I were talking about you and me," he signed slowly, letting her interpret as he signed.

He realized that this was not the way that he wanted to start off, so he quickly signed, "No, no, no," even though Bay had read his signs correctly. She looked at him, part amused, part confused.

"I like you," he signed to Bay. She looked at him, still unsure of where this was going…unsure that is, until he leaned in and kissed her.

Emmett was uncertain as to what he had been expecting to feel when he kissed Bay, but he was not expecting to feel warmth and pleasure run through him when their lips touched. The kiss continued for a few seconds, and after they broke away from each other, he walked away, letting Bay and himself have time to think.

He didn't see Bay again until two days later, when she met him outside his school. He crossed him arms and gave her a smirk, waiting to hear what she had to say. Well, she had a lot to say and he had trouble reading her lips at some points because a) she talked really fast b) she was blending her questions together and c) he got distracted by her mouth. When she finally stopped talking and he made sure she was done, he walked closer to her and kissed her again. This kiss was even longer than the first, but the warmth and pleasure he felt when kissing her had not decreased. If anything, they had increased because for the past two days, he had thought of little else except for their first kiss. When they stopped to breathe, he signed to Bay, "Kissing you has nothing to do with Daphne."

That had been the unofficial official start of their (romantic) relationship. They hadn't let everyone know about the new aspect of their interactions for a week or two, but after their families found out, everyone came to terms with it in time. Daphne was a little annoyed because he had given her such grief about dating Liam, but c'mon, the guy was a jerk! Also, Daphne seemed to be hanging out with Wilke, Toby's friend, a lot recently, so it seemed like she wasn't too hung up over Liam anymore.

Needless to say, Emmett's perceptions on deaf and hearing people dating had changed. It was weird because it was kind of without warning, but he wasn't complaining. He and Bay saw each other almost every day, managed to go out a few nights a week together, just the two of them, even though their schedules were different. Emmett was really happy, and he Bay was pretty happy, too, if he did say so himself.

Emmett glanced at the picture on his desk again, grinned again, and looked at the clock. It was 8:00 p.m. and he had thought that he'd just stay home and chill for a while, but on second thought, he decided to go and visit Bay. Granted, he knew she had homework and probably wouldn't be able to do anything tonight, but maybe he could convince her to do some other form of studying for a little while…

He told his mother where he was going, promised he'd be home by his 10:15 curfew, and drove to the Kennishes'. He texted Bay when he got there, wondering if she was in the house or in her garage.

'In garage. Needed break from hw,' she texted him back.

He opened the door of the garage quietly and saw her standing before an easel, painting something. He crept up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

She jumped. "Oh my gosh!" Bay shouted. "Emmett! Don't do that!" He looked at her with a smirk on his face and then started laughing. When he had startled her, she had jumped so much that she had splattered paint on herself, and there was now a blue splotch of paint on her cheek. He took his finger and wiped it off, smirking at her the whole time.

"That is NOT funny, Emmett!" Bay said, slightly calmer than before, but not willing to completely forgive him yet.

One of the advantages of not having complete use of all your senses is that the other senses become heightened. Emmett had become a keen observer and very perceptive in his lifetime, and he saw the little smile teasing at the corners of Bay's mouth. He raised his eyebrows at her and she quickly tried to force her mouth into a frown again. He just laughed at her some more, and finally she gave up.

"What are you doing here?" Bay signed. Little by little, she was catching on to more and more sign language.

"I wanted to come and see you," he replied. "I missed you."

Emmett saw her expression soften, and they both smiled at each other.

"Sorry I've been so busy lately. It seems like all of my teachers aren't happy unless they're giving us an hour of homework each every night," Bay said.

"Well, do you think you have time for a little break from your break?" Emmett wanted to know. At this point, Bay understood a lot of sign, but still couldn't sign all of it. Most of the time, he could sign at a decent pace, unless he used a word that was unusual. That didn't come up so often, so his interactions with Bay went a lot more smoothly now. It was less like charades and more like conversation now.

Two minutes later, he and Bay were making out on the chair in her garage. It wasn't the most comfortable chair in the world, but it would do. It also meant that Bay sat on his lap, which was a bonus. They were pretty involved with each other until there was a sudden knock on the door of the garage.

"One minute!" Bay called, straightening her clothes which had become a little wrinkled during their "little break from her break." Emmett reluctantly let her out of his grasp, and gave her another smirk as she walked to the door. If he had known who was on the other side of the door, he wouldn't have been smirking, and he probably wouldn't have let her off of his lap.

As Bay opened the door, Emmett saw a flash of dark hair before the person pulled Bay close and kissed her. Emmett quickly stood up, the chair he had been sitting on falling over in his haste. He quickly made his way over to the door, about to physically separate Bay and whoever it was she was kissing, but he saw Bay push the person away before Emmett had to do anything. When Emmett glimpsed the guy's face, his heart dropped at least three feet.

"Ty?" Bay gasped.

A.N. Alright, although I've only done Glee fanfiction before, I've become totally hooked on Switched at Birth, and especially obsessed with Bay and Emmett! C'mon, aren't they adorable? I figured that I just had to write a story for them because they're so cute. And, of course, I'm kind of a sucker for angst, so I had to incorporate some of that, too. This chapter was a lot of what we've seen in the show, I know, but I still wanted to get that established before getting into the new stuff. Please let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. Thanks for the reviews, everyone! They were really awesome and made me even more motivated to continue the story! Hope you enjoy this chapter, too!

_As Bay opened the door, Emmett saw a flash of dark hair before the person pulled Bay close and kissed her. Emmett quickly stood up, the chair he had been sitting on falling over in his haste. He quickly made his way over to the door, about to physically separate Bay and whoever it was she was kissing, but he saw Bay push the person away before Emmett had to do anything. When Emmett glimpsed the guy's face, his heart dropped at least three feet._

_"Ty?" Bay gasped._

"Hi, Bay," Ty said with a smile. "Wow, it's so good to see you. You can't imagine how much I've missed you!" and with that, Ty pulled Bay in for a tight hug.

Emmett was clenching and unclenching his fists, not entirely sure where this whole encounter was going, but definitely not happy about it.

Bay was still in shock, though. "Ty! What- I mean, when- what…?" If this were any other situation, Emmett probably would've laughed at the scene. Bay _always_ had something to say…and usually she had a _lot_ to say…and said it very quickly. But now she was just standing there, staring, her mouth slightly agape. Emmett wasn't entirely comfortable that the first time she was speechless was because _Ty_ had come back.

"What are you doing here, Ty?" Bay asked, finally regaining her ability to speak. "When'd you get back?"

Ty stood there, smiling a little smile at Bay. He glanced down and then asked, "Can I come in?"

Bay shook her head slightly as if she had been daydreaming and was now getting back to reality and said, "Sure. C'mon in."

When Ty walked in to the garage, it was clear that something was wrong with his foot. He was limping, and it looked painful for him to walk. Bay quickly picked up the chair that she and Emmett had been sitting in (and doing other stuff) before that Emmett had knocked over accidentally. "Here. Sit. What's wrong with your leg?"

Ty sat down heavily, a slight grimace on his face. "I came back a couple of days ago."

Bay opened her mouth as if to say something, but before she could, Ty continued, "And before you ask me why I didn't come see you sooner, it's because I was busy." He took a deep breath. "You see, the reason I'm back is because, as I'm sure you can tell, I have a problem with my foot. I have something called osteomyelitis in my left foot. It's basically an infection of the bone, and I need to have surgery on it. Over the past couple of days, I've been consulting with doctors and needed to schedule the procedure. I couldn't continue in the army like this, so, well," he finished with a wry smile, "I'm back."

"Wow," Bay breathed.

"I swear, I came to see you as soon as I had the time," Ty said.

"No, no, I believe you. I just…wow. Ok." Bay was back to speechless.

Emmett felt bad for the guy, really he did, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing right now. I mean, the guy comes back and it's like nobody notices Emmett's there anymore! What's the deal?

"So, still painting I see," Ty grinned, looking around. It was only during his surveying of the garage that he suddenly noticed Emmett. "Emmett! Hey, man! What are you doing here? How are you doing?" he simultaneously signed and spoke.

Emmett mustered a fake smile. "Great," he replied. "Fine."

"I didn't realize that you guys were friends," the intruder said, looking between Emmett and Bay. "She's pretty cool, right?" Ty addressed that last part to Emmett.

"Yup," Emmett signed, while looking pointedly at Bay. Without using sign or even mouthing anything, he communicated to her, _Tell him we're together. _

She looked right back at him, understanding in her eyes. Then she jerked her head toward the door and then glanced at Ty's foot, telling Emmett, _He just came back! I can't do that yet! _

Emmett stared back at her, gazing into her eyes until he saw her relent. She rolled her eyes a bit and mouthed, "Fine."

Ty, meanwhile, was completely oblivious to the whole exchange. He had been looking around the garage some more, while thinking about how good it felt to be back with Bay.

"Ty-" Bay started, while at the same time Ty had said, "So, Bay."

"I just came back, and I'm sick, so I get to go first," Ty smiled.

_What a jerk_, Emmett thought, conveniently pushing away the realization that he had liked Ty just fine before his relationship with Bay.

Bay smiled at Ty. "Alright," she said.

"So, I was thinking…I know that I'm not in the best physical shape right now, so I can't really do anything strenuous, but I was wondering if I could take you out to dinner tomorrow night," Ty asked.

Emmett had moved to the side so he could see what Ty was saying better, and he didn't like it. He didn't like any of it. He waited for Bay to say something like, "Sorry, you left for the army, I moved on, I can't do that."

She didn't. Instead, Bay looked at Emmett pleadingly, as if saying _What am I supposed to say?_ Emmett looked at her, incredulous. He jerked his head in Ty's direction with a frown on his face. Bay correctly interpreted that as _Say NO!_ He saw Bay sigh.

"Listen, Ty-" Bay started.

"Wait, I know it's kind of last minute, but I've really missed you, Bay," Ty said softly. "Please, come out with me to dinner. Do you have any other plans for tomorrow night?"

Emmett rolled his eyes. _No wonder Bay thinks I'm the best listener she knows. All this guy does is interrupt her!_

"Well, no, but…" Bay said, and trailed off.

Emmett opened his eyes wide, signing at her, "What are you doing?" She looked away.

"Great, I'll pick you up at 6:30, k?" Ty smiled at her, a huge grin on his face, and got up slowly.

"K?" Bay replied meekly, uncertain.

"See you tomorrow night! Oh, bye, man!" Ty said to them as he was leaving.

Emmett held his anger in check until the door had closed behind Ty.

"What are you doing? You're going out _on a date_ with _Ty?_! I thought I was your boyfriend! All of a sudden, Ty comes back and I get thrown to the side? You should've said no! What were you thinking?" Emmett signed, his hands moving furiously through the air.

"Whoa, ok, slow down. It's not like Russian anymore, but still kind of like Spanish, and I only took a year of that," Bay said, reminiscent of her previous statement a little over 6 months ago of, "You might as well be speaking Russian."

Emmett repeated the signs, slightly slower, but with the same amount of force and emotion. He saw understanding dawn on Bay's face as he signed it again.

"I didn't know what do!" Bay replied. "He came back home from the _army_, and wanted to see me, and he's having surgery soon!"

"SO WHAT?" Emmett signed back.

"So I figured the least I could do is go out with him tomorrow night, have a good time, and then toward the end of the night, I'll let him know that you and I are together, and that I've moved on from him."

"Oh, yeah, that's going to work out," Emmett signed, a skeptical look on his face. "Bay, he's going out on a date with you! You think he's going to sit there innocently the whole time without trying to kiss you or hold your hand at all?"

"So I'll avoid physical contact with him! It won't be so bad," Bay tried, unconvincingly.

"Forget it. Call him and tell him that you can't come!" Emmett was still mad.

"I can't do that! What am I going to say, 'Sorry, I just realized I'm sick. Better luck next time'?"

"So call him tomorrow morning and tell him you woke up with a really bad cold!" Emmett was _ not_ going to let his girlfriend go out with her former boyfriend…her _hearing_ former boyfriend who had just come back from the army and still thought there was a chance for them to be together. Because there wasn't. Emmett and Bay were together, and were staying that way.

_Wow, I've come a long way from insisting deaf and hearing people can't date,_ Emmett thought, but then pushed that thought aside. He had more pressing matters at hand.

"Emmett, if I don't see him, then when am I going to tell him that you and I are dating?" Bay asked rationally, placing a hand on Emmett's shoulder.

Emmett hadn't thought of that totally, but he'd figure out some way. "Text him?" Emmett asked, with a hopeful look.

"Really, you want me to break up with him in a text message?" Bay asked dryly. "C'mon, Emmett."

"He'll recover," Emmett assured her. "And you guys aren't dating, so you're not breaking up with him!" Some of the anger was back.

"But he thinks we are!" Bay shot back.

"Give me your phone," Emmett motioned.

"What? Why?"

Emmett reached out his hand and snagged her phone. His fingers flew over the keys, but before he had finished typing, Bay grabbed the phone out of his hands. He tried to grab it back, but wow, she was strong for such a little person! Emmett managed to get the phone back for a few seconds but before he could press send, Bay tackled him to the floor. Fortunately, the floor wasn't too hard, so nobody got hurt. Bay straddled his chest, holding the phone up high so that he couldn't reach it, but she could read the text he had just written.

"Can't go out tomorrow night. I'm dating Emmett and can't wait to make sweet, sweet love to him," Bay read out loud.

She glared at him. "Really, Emmett? Really?"

He gave her a shrug and signed, "I was going to write Sorry at the end before sending it."

"I am _not_ sending this to Ty, alright? I'm going to go out with him tomorrow night, tell him you and I are dating, and then things will be back like they were before, ok?" Bay told him.

Emmett rolled his eyes and was about to protest a bit more, but Bay stopped him. "And then I'll come back to my awesome boyfriend and we'll spend some time together, alright?"

Before he could say anything else, though, Bay leaned down and pressed her lips hard to his. He got caught up in that for a few minutes, until it was time for him to head home. He gave her one last kiss before heading out, and signed, "I don't like this."

"I know, but you're going to let me do it anyway. That's why you're awesome!" Bay said with a knowing smile.

Emmett rolled his eyes once more before driving away on his motorcycle. _I don't like this. Talk about the understatement of the year. _He just really wanted tomorrow to be over already.

A.N. So what'd you think? Let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. Thank you SOOOOO much for the reviews, everyone! They are really awesome and keep me motivated to keep updating! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

_"I am __not__ sending this to Ty, alright? I'm going to go out with him tomorrow night, tell him you and I are dating, and then things will be back like they were before, ok?" Bay told him._

_Emmett rolled his eyes and was about to protest a bit more, but Bay stopped him. "And then I'll come back to my awesome boyfriend and we'll spend some time together, alright?"_

_Before he could say anything else, though, Bay leaned down and pressed her lips hard to his. He got caught up in that for a few minutes, until it was time for him to head home. He gave her one last kiss before heading out, and signed, "I don't like this."_

_"I know, but you're going to let me do it anyway. That's why you're awesome!" Bay said with a knowing smile._

_Emmett rolled his eyes once more before driving away on his motorcycle. __I don't like this. Talk about the understatement of the year. __He just really wanted tomorrow to be over already._

The next day passed too slowly and too quickly for Emmett. He sat in his classes, his knee bouncing up and down, his eyes constantly darting to the clock on the pale yellow wall of his classroom. He didn't want to be sitting here in class; he wanted to be hanging out with his girlfriend.

The second school was over, Emmett jumped out of his chair, grabbed his books, slung his jacket over his shoulder, and ran to his bike. He hopped on, revved the engine, and hurried off to Bay's school (although still driving at a normal speed). He got to Bay's school five minutes before school ended, so he took off his helmet and leaned casually against the motorcycle, his tapping fingers the only indication that he was not as calm as the image he was trying to portray.

Bay's smile when she saw him waiting for her warmed his heart, as cheesy as that sounds. It just made him feel good to know that when she saw him, it made her happy and she'd grin.

He waved to her and she waved back, kissing him briefly when she got close enough. They zoomed off to Bay's house, without doing anything more than that. It may seem a little distant to any observers, but the truth was, it's not like they wanted to hang out by Bay's school for prolonged periods of time. It made more sense for them to leave and then have conversations when they got to their destination (Bay's house, Emmett's house, the park, wherever). After all, you can't exactly use your hands to communicate when you're riding a motorcycle.

When they got to the Kennishes', they went into the house for Bay to drop her school stuff off.

"Want a drink?" Bay asked Emmett, once they were in the kitchen, extending a bottle of water to him.

He took the bottle, unscrewed the cap, and took a large swig. Bay looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

"What?" he asked, defensively. "Driving a motorcycle makes me thirsty, especially on hot days like today."

"Ok," she said, opening up a cabinet above the sink. "Want anything to eat?"

Emmett shook his head. "Haven't had much of an appetite since last night," and he gave Bay a pointed look.

"Oh, c'mon, Emmett. You know it's going to be harmless. Ty's a friend!"

"Yeah, but he wants more!" Emmett signed forcefully.

He saw Bay sigh. "Ok, we're not going to do this again, Emmett. I know this isn't the best situation, but we just have to deal with it!" she said.

"I don't get it. Why do we have to deal with it by you going out on a date with him?"

"I don't know what else to do in this situation," Bay said. "Come to think of it, I keep being in the middle of these crazy situations that nobody else really has, so nobody knows what to do in the situation!"

Ignoring, for the time being, the clear reference to the switched at birth situation, Emmett signed emphatically, "_I_ know what do!" He looked at Bay with a hopeful small smile. "I can always re-type the text…"

Bay looked at him and then laughed. "Ok, ok, I know this is hard for you. But I'm not going to tell him in a text, 'Gee, Ty, you left and I moved on to my biological mother's non-biological daughter's best friend! So good luck with that surgery thing, and have a nice life!'"

Emmett gazed back at Bay, faux-confused. "Why not?"

"Because it's heartless!"

"Not to _me_ it's not," Emmett signed with a smirk, then opened up a cabinet and grabbed a bag of chips.

"I thought you said you weren't hungry," Bay observed wryly.

"I forgot how hungry arguing with you makes me," Emmett responded with a cheeky smile.

"You know, you're lucky I like you so much," Bay said, coming closer to him.

"I know, and I like you, too," he signed.

She smiled at him, moving in for a kiss. He stopped her with a finger to her mouth. "I'd like you even more if you didn't go to dinner with Ty tonight…"

He saw Bay's reaction brewing in her eyes, and help up a hand. "Kidding, kidding. Sorry. I had to try, right?" With that, he brought her closer to him and kissed her.

"Want to go to the garage?" Emmett asked, slowly moving them back toward the door.

"I have to change before Ty comes," Bay protested weakly, in between pecks on the lips. "Ok, but only for a few minutes."

As they were exiting the house, they saw Mrs. Kennish pull in. "Hi, honey. Hi, Emmett."

"Hey, Mom, we're just going to go to the garage for a few minutes, k? See you later!"

Emmett waved and smiled at Mrs. Kennish as Bay dragged him along.

Emmett tapped Bay on the shoulder. "Do your parents know that Ty's back?"

"Yeah. They're the ones that told him I was in the garage last night. He stopped off at the house first," Bay said.

"And do they know that you're going to dinner with him tonight?"

"Well, no." Bay looked sheepish.

"Because they'd ask you why you're going out on a date with another guy when they know you're with me?" Emmett asked knowingly.

"Emmett," Bay gave him a warning look.

"Alright, alright," he held his hands up in front of him as a sign of surrender.

"Now why don't we make the most of the time we have before I have to go get ready?" Bay asked, approaching him.

He smirked at her and drew her close. "Best idea you've had today," he signed before crashing his lips down on hers.

They passed the next 25 minutes making out, hands roaming over clothing. Reluctantly, Bay pulled away. Before she could say anything to him, though, Emmett drew her back and kissed her again.

_If I can just keep her here with me for a little while longer, maybe Ty will come, be sent here, walk in on us, and then no "dinner plans" needed_, Emmett thought, intent on keeping his hold on Bay. He succeeded in distracting her for a few more minutes, but then she pulled away again. He pouted.

"Stay," he signed, trying to grab her arms to pull her closer again onto his lap, but she got smart and had moved out of reach.

"I have to go get changed," she insisted regretfully.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Why?"

"Uh, because I'm not going out to dinner in my school uniform." Bay looked at him strangely. "I'm going to go. I'll text you when I'm on my way back, k?"

He shrugged.

"And then I'll drive straight to your house right after Ty drops me off," Bay promised.

"Why does he have to drop you off here first? Tell him to drop you off at my house!" Emmett wanted to know.

"Because if I've just told him that we're dating, I don't need to rub it in his face!" said Bay. "I have to go. I'll see you later, k?" and she left.

_If you think I'm leaving now, Bay Kennish, you are sorely mistaken. I am staying here to spy on the guy who's taking my girlfriend out to dinner_, Emmett thought.

He wandered around Bay's garage, looking at the various projects adorning the walls. He had never noticed it before he started dating Bay, but the way paintings are done can tell a lot about the person. Thick brush strokes can mean that the person is feeling passionate about something, while thinner, more delicate strokes can indicate that the person is feeling timid or gentle. He amused himself with analyzing Bay's paintings and other artwork for a little while. Then he glanced at his watch and figured that Ty would be there any minute, so he opened the door of the garage a little bit so he could peek out. Sure enough, Ty was escorting Bay to his truck, his limp noticeable.

Emmett fumed as he saw Bay laughing at something Ty said. _Chill, dude, _an inner voice inside him said. _She's just laughing. It's not like she's kissing him. _

That thought, though, lead to a lot more unpleasantness, because for the next half an hour, all Emmett could picture was Bay sitting next toTy at a table in some restaurant, saying, "And I rebounded with Emmett for a while, but he's deaf. Sure, he's not bad looking, but c'mon, you're so much hotter and you can actually _hear_ what I'm saying." And then they'd laugh and move closer to each other so that Bay was all cozy against Ty, and then Ty would lean down and kiss Bay and kiss her again and again and again and…Emmett banged his head against the door, but the image still played over and over in his head.

Emmett jumped onto his motorcycle and sped off. He thought he had seen Ty say something to Bay about Sadie's Place, a popular restaurant in town. Every red light made Emmett antsy. He pulled into the parking lot at Sadie's place, careful to park far away from the windows of the restaurant. He hopped off his bike and hurried over to the wall near the window, careful to not be seen. He _really_ hoped that Bay didn't happen to be looking out the window right then because if she saw him…well, let's just say, he knew it wouldn't be good for their relationship.

His eyes darted around the restaurant, hoping that Bay and Ty would be seated somewhere where he could spot them from outside. Fortunately for him, they were. He saw Bay leaning on the table slightly, a serious expression on her face, talking quickly to Ty. Ty looked serious, too, and a little bit hurt and annoyed. Emmett squinted, trying to see if he could lipread exactly what they were saying. The distance made it hard, but he was able to discern that Bay was saying something about her father and about kissing.

_She's talking to Ty about kissing her father? _Emmett wondered, but then he realized what she was talking about. _Yes, she telling him about her and me! Ok, I'd better get out of here before she sees me. _

Once Emmett got home, he waited impatiently for Bay to text him that she was on her way. It was only around 35 minutes later that the light flashed, indicating that someone was at the door. He opened it, pleasantly surprised to find Bay there.

"I thought you were going to text me-" he started signing, but before he could sign "before coming over," Bay grabbed him and kissed him hard. He wasn't complaining, but he could tell something had happened from the way she was kissing him. When they separated, he led her over to the couch and they sat down.

"You know I like you, right?" Bay signed, her movements slightly shaky. "You know I'm really happy being your girlfriend, yeah?"

Emmett nodded, concern on his face. "Bay, what happened?"

"So I went out to dinner with him, and everything was fine. We were acting like regular friends, and it was totally normal." Bay was speaking this part, impatient with her sign language abilities. The rate she was speaking at, though, was too fast for Emmett to lipread, so he laid a hand on her shoulder, calming her down. He indicated that she should slow down.

"Sorry," she said, and started to speak a little slower, incorporating a couple of signs into her speech. " Anyway, I figured that I would kind of casually tell him about you and me during dinner while telling him about everything that happened after he left. So, I told him about us, and then I explained how we got closer while looking for my dad and everything."

Emmett nodded, letting Bay know that he was following.

" First, he was a little taken aback, but then, well, then he kissed me."

Emmett stood up quickly. "HE WHAT?" he signed forcefully, his movements jerky.

"But I pushed him away! I swear! And he apologized, he did. He said that he doesn't know what came over him, but he was sorry."

Emmett sneered. "Since when is sorry enough for kissing someone else's girlfriend? I'm going to find that guy…"

"Emmett, don't! It's not worth it. He knows I'm with you, and only you. And I'm here with you right now!"

Emmett looked toward the window. "I could totally take him," he signed distractedly.

"Of course you could." Bay appeased. "But then what would be the point of me being here? You know, I came here with very little time until my curfew…"

"Fine, but only because it's close to my curfew, too, and I want to have time to have a real good talk with Ty when I confront him," Emmett replied, and then proceeded to curl up with his girlfriend on the couch, one part of his mind still on what he'd do and say when he saw Ty.

A.N. Hey, everyone! Once again, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know what you think, because I'm feeling a little uncertain about chapter in specific.


	4. Chapter 4

_"Sorry," she said, and started to speak a little slower, incorporating a couple of signs into her speech. " Anyway, I figured that I would kind of casually tell him about you and me during dinner while telling him about everything that happened after he left. So, I told him about us, and then I explained how we got closer while looking for my dad and everything."_

_Emmett nodded, letting Bay know that he was following._

_" First, he was a little taken aback, but then, well, then he kissed me."_

_Emmett stood up quickly. "HE WHAT?" he signed forcefully, his movements jerky._

_"But I pushed him away! I swear! And he apologized, he did. He said that he doesn't know what came over him, but he was sorry."_

_Emmett sneered. "Since when is sorry enough for kissing someone else's girlfriend? I'm going to find that guy…"_

_"Emmett, don't! It's not worth it. He knows I'm with you, and only you. And I'm here with you right now!"_

_Emmett looked toward the window. "I could totally take him," he signed distractedly._

_"Of course you could." Bay appeased. "But then what would be the point of me being here? You know, I came here with very little time until my curfew…"_

_"Fine, but only because it's close to my curfew, too, and I want to have time to have a real good talk with Ty when I confront him," Emmett replied, and then proceeded to curl up with his girlfriend on the couch, one part of his mind still on what he'd do and say when he saw Ty._

One week later, and Emmett still hadn't had the opportunity to confront Ty and set him straight…one way or the other. It was very frustrating because, well, every time he thought of Ty, he got upset. It was just that Ty was with Bay first, and even though that doesn't really mean anything, he still worried about it. What if Ty got really got to Bay? Usually when thoughts like that flitted through Emmett's head, he'd try to dispel them ASAP, but sometimes it didn't work. That's when Emmett would look at pictures he had of himself with Bay and he'd think of good times with Bay and the look in Bay's eyes when she saw _him_, Emmett, not Ty.

School proved to be a decent distraction. If he was involved in his schoolwork, then he didn't have the opportunity to dwell on Bay and Ty. He'd hang out with Daphne and a couple of his other friends during breaks and during lunch, everyone's fingers flying in rapid conversation.

"How's it going with _Bay_?" Jared, one of his friends, asked Emmett in sign language. "You know, of any of us, I never would have pegged you as the one to have the steady _hearing_ girlfriend, Emmett."

All of his friends grinned, waiting for Emmett's response.

"It's going great, _thanks_. How's it going with _your_ girlfriend? Jenna? Isn't that the name of your 7-year-old sister's friend who's crushing on you?" Emmett retorted. "Bay might be hearing, but at least she can drive and, oh, stay home by herself."

Everyone around the table laughed as Emmett smirked at Jared and Jared glared back. But as they all rose from the table to head back to class, Emmett slapped Jared's back, indicating there were no hard feelings.

At the end of the day, Daphne and Emmett walked out of school together.

"Did you know that Ty had his surgery yesterday on his foot? He's in the hospital still," Daphne informed him.

"Too bad for him. At least he can't try to trap my girlfriend if he's laid up in bed," Emmett responded, his reply lacking much sympathy.

"Emmett!" Daphne slapped him on the shoulder. "Since when did you become so unfeeling?"

"I'm not unfeeling," Emmett signed back. "I just don't have much sympathy for the guy who kissed my girlfriend when he knew she was with me!"

Daphne's mouth dropped open. "Ty kissed Bay? When?"

"W Bay went out with him soon after he came back. She told him that she had moved on and was with me. Then the jerk kissed her! Ugh, don't make me think about it." He made a face.

"Ty? Are you sure it was him? But Ty would never-"

"Yeah, well apparently he would. Can we just drop it, please? It's disgusting, and just makes me mad. As a matter of fact, maybe I'll drop you off at home and hang out with Bay for a while," Emmett decided.

"Uh, Wilke's picking me up," Daphne said with an erubescent smile. Emmett just slung his backpack over his shoulder and raised his eyebrows at her, a smirk on his face. "Oh, shut up," Daphne said, and they laughingly separated.

Shortly after Emmett arrived at the Kennishes', Daphne and Wilke drove up.

"We could've just carpooled," Emmett signed, sarcastically.

"Ha ha," Daphne stuck out her tongue at him.

"I'm going to Bay's garage," Emmett told them and walked off. When he got there, though, nobody was in there and the door was locked. He sat down and waited for Bay to arrive. He saw Wilke and Daphne talking to each other still. Even though he was sitting a couple of yards away from them, he decided to see what they were saying.

"'Bay's garage.' I'm telling you, I've lived here for 7 months and I still think it's weird that the kids have garages as their studios," Daphne told Wilke.

Emmett laughed. It was true. It was weird saying that he was going to "Bay's garage." He'd gotten sort of used to it over time, but it was still kind of strange, right?

Wilke smiled at Daphne. "So Toby tells me that Ty's still in the hospital."

Emmett grimaced. Did everyone love the guy?

The next thing he read from Wilke's lips, he sincerely hoped he read incorrectly. "I heard that Ty wants Bay to come visit him. Does Emmett know?"

Daphne, who clearly did not realize that Emmett was in plain sight and was in on their conversation said, "No! And I don't even know if we should tell him! I mean, does Bay even know that Ty wants to see her?"

"Well, Toby apparently went to visit the guy where Ty expressed that he was really hoping that Bay would visit. I mean, the guy's in the hospital and only recently came back from the army. You gotta feel bad for him. Toby's not exactly going to refuse to tell Bay that, right?" Wilke reasoned.

"I don't know," Daphne stated sadly. "I just don't know. C'mon, let's go inside."

Emmett sat there staring where Daphne and Wilke had been standing, even after they had gone inside. _Ty wanted to see Bay. Ty wanted to see Bay. Ty told Toby that he wanted to see Bay. Toby told Bay that Ty wanted to see her. _

An inner voice inside of Emmett said _Why are you being so melodramatic? So what, Ty wants to see Bay. It's not like he's proposing. He just wants her to visit. C'mon, if you were laid up in bed, you'd want Bay to visit __**you**__. She's like a breath of fresh hair, all that spunk and sarcasm, covering up a genuinely sweet person who is fiercely loyal. _

But then another voice said, _Yeah, but I just don't want to-want to lose her. I mean, it's not like I could even hear rumors spreading about them if my back was turned. And, well, Bay's __**my**__ girlfriend and I really don't want to give her up. _

Emmett flashed back to the first time he'd seen Bay. _He had just come to pick up Daphne to hang out for a while and go out to lunch and there was this girl with dark brown hair, pale skin, and the deepest brown eyes he'd ever seen leaning against a car. They stared at each other for a few seconds and then he asked Daphne, "Who's that?" There was another short staring contest, and then Daphne responded, "Me, in another life." Shortly after, he and Daphne drove off. _

Even though he and Bay hadn't said anything to each other that time, when his gaze locked with hers, it was like they established an immediate connection, which was a very surreal experience. Maybe that's why when Bay spoke to him outside Buckner that first time, it hadn't been as weird as it could've been, because it felt like they had already established a bit of a connection.

_I refuse to lose that with Bay,_ Emmett thought forcefully. _And I refuse to lose Bay. _

A.N. Hey, readers! I know that this chapter is a little shorter than the past couple have been, but I decided that this was a good place to end it. Hopefully I'll try to update some time tomorrow, or at least by Tuesday. I really really appreciate your reviews; they really inspire me! Also, please continue to let me know what you think of the story! I feel better about this chapter than the previous one because it had a little of everything: humor (I hope), secrets, uncertainty, angst, and depth of emotion. Hope you enjoyed!


	5. Chapter 5

_Even though he and Bay hadn't said anything to each other that time, when his gaze locked with hers, it was like they established an immediate connection, which was a very surreal experience. Maybe that's why when Bay spoke to him outside Buckner that first time, it hadn't been as weird as it could've been because it felt like they had already established a bit of a connection. _

_I refuse to lose that with Bay, Emmett thought forcefully. And I refuse to lose Ty. _

Instead of sticking around to wait for Bay like he had originally intended, Emmett decided to go home and think through some things for a while.

"Hey, Mom," he greeted his mother when he got home, dropping his bag next to the door, and heading to the fridge for a drink.

She looked at him reproachfully. "You know you're not supposed to leave your bag by the door, Emmett. How many times do I have to remind you?"

He rolled his eyes and picked up his bag, quickly depositing it in his room, and then heading back to the kitchen.

"How was your day?" his mother inquired, then dumped some flour into a bowl and mixed quickly.

"It was okay. Learned some interesting stuff." Emmett came over to the counter where his mother was standing. "What are you making?"

"Cookies. The Kennishes invited us for dinner and I told them I'd bring dessert," she explained. "Hey!" she knocked his hand away, but not before Emmett had successfully dipped his finger into the batter. He smiled at her and licked off his finger, then escaped to his room before his mother could scold him anymore.

Moments after he got to his room, his mother popped her head in. "Dinner is at 7, so we should leave here at ten to, ok?"

"Ok," he signed, and his mother left, closing his door behind her.

He turned on some music, tapping his fingers on his desk in sync with the vibrations. He sat down at his desk, knowing he should get started on some of the reading that he had to do for school, but not really able to focus on that. He even got the book out of his backpack, but he just sat there, staring down at the cover, not even really comprehending what he was looking at.

Instead, he sat there pondering when he'd confront Ty and what he'd say. Emmett wasn't a mean person by nature, but he _did_ want to get his point across. He wanted to get things settled with Ty so that Emmett and Bay could get back to the solid, warm relationship that they had before Ty had come back.

Before he knew it, it was 6:50 and he and his mother left for the Kennishes'. When they got there, they went into the house and straight to the kitchen to drop off the cookies. John and Katherine were in there, bustling around doing, well, he's not sure exactly what they were doing, but they _looked_ as if they were busily preparing.

He looked around for Bay, but didn't see her. John saw his not-so-discreet look and told him, "Bay's in the garage, Emmett. You can go find her there and tell her it's time for dinner."

Emmett nodded thanks and headed off, once again, to the garage. This time, the door was unlocked, and he went right in. Bay had the music on very loudly (he knew because he could feel the vibrations very strongly, and also because she didn't even hear him knock and then open the door). He crept up behind her, encircled her waist with his arms, and started kissing the back of her neck.

She whirled around. "Emmett! Hi!" she exclaimed, and proceeded to kiss him hello properly. When they came up for air, she said, "I didn't even hear you come in!"

"I know," he smirked. "It's time for dinner." He smirked even more. "I'd rather stay in here with you, though." He kissed her again.

She laughed. "So would I, except that everyone else is in there and they know we're out here together. Also," she said with a sheepish smile, "I'm really hungry, and if I don't eat anything soon, I might just faint in your arms."

"That's ok," Emmett signed back. "I'd catch you," and then he dipped her down, his hand behind her back, a grin on both of their faces, and gave her a sweet kiss on the lips. "But let's go."

Dinner was very nice. The Kennishes, who still hadn't really learned much sign language, talked slowly (but not moronically slowly) so that he, his mother, and Daphne could understand and follow along with the conversation. Whenever the deaf people at the table didn't understand, they'd look to Bay or more often Regina to sign what had been said.

It was still strange to Emmett that the Kennishes hadn't learned much sign language yet. After all, Bay was pretty good at it now, and she'd had the same amount of time as everyone else to learn it. Of course, Bay had the advantage of his private lessons, where she often learned a lot and was more frequently forced to use sign. But, hey, to each his/her own, right?

After dinner, the Kennish parents, Emmett's mother, and Regina sat at the table talking, while Toby escaped to his garage, and Daphne, Emmett, and Bay went to hang out on the couch in the living room.

"Why didn't you tell me that Ty asked for you to visit him in the hospital?" Emmett signed. Then he mentally slapped himself. _Way to start off lightly, moron. _

Bay and Daphne looked at each other, shocked. "You told him?" Bay signed at Daphne.

"No!" Daphne signed back. "How'd you find out?" she signed to Emmett.

"I saw you and Wilke talking this afternoon while I was waiting for Bay."

"You were here? I didn't know that! Why didn't you wait longer for me?" Bay inserted, curious.

"I decided to go home to think."

Bay and Daphne looked at each other again, uncertainty in their eyes. Finally Daphne spoke up. "Think about what?"

"About the whole situation with Ty." He looked at Daphne. "Could you give Bay and me a minute alone?"

"Sure," Daphne said. She looked at Bay, shrugged, and mouthed _Good luck_.

"So, what conclusions did you come to?" Bay asked him, unsure about where this was going.

"I want to come visit Ty with you." Emmett said.

Bay's eyebrows shot up. "You want to what?"

"I want to come visit Ty with you."

"_Why_?" Bay was confused.

"Because I think maybe if he sees us together, he'll understand more that you're with me."

"First of all, he already saw us together, remember?" Bay said, ticking off numbers on her fingers. "Second, who says he doesn't understand that we're together?"

"First of all," Emmett started, mimicking Bay, "when he saw us together, he didn'tknow that we're _together together_." He saw Bay dipping her head, conceding his point. "Second, I just want to make sure that he understands you're with me, ok?"

Bay thought it over for a few moments. _Sounds reasonable. Can't really blame the guy. _"Ok," she signed.

Emmett smiled. "Great. Wanna go tomorrow afternoon after school?"

Bay thought it over, mentally going through her schedule. "Works for me."

Just then, his mother came in to tell him they were leaving. He kissed Bay good night and told her he'd picked her up from school tomorrow.

She smiled that special smile that was just for him and said, "Ok. Good night."

The next day passed pretty quickly. He went to his classes, hung out with his friends, and took notes. He was walking toward his motorcycle with Daphne, as Wilke was picking her up again.

"So what'd you and Bay decide about Ty last night?" Daphne inquired.

"I'm going to pick Bay up from school, and then we're going to visit Ty _together_," he informed her.

Daphne looked surprised, and a little impressed. "You're going to go _with_ Bay to visit Ty?"

"This way, he can see us together as a couple. And," Emmett added slyly, "I can send Bay to get a drink from a vending machine while I have a talk with Ty!" and he hurried away, wanting to avoid any more questions that Daphne was sure to have.

Daphne ran after him, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention once he was already sitting on his bike, ready to go. "Talk with Ty about what?" she asked, her hands flying.

Emmett just smiled mysteriously and drove off, leaving a curious and concerned Daphne behind him. When he arrived at Buckner, Bay was already waiting for him. She kissed him briefly and then got on behind him, strapping on the helmet he provided.

They drove off to the hospital, the wind blowing in their faces. Emmett was relishing the freedom he felt while on his motorcycle, Bay's arms tight around him. Bay, meanwhile, was relishing the freedom _she _felt, riding on her boyfriend's motorcycle, her arms around him, feeling how solid and warm he was.

When they got to the hospital, they went in, found out Ty's room number, and headed off in the direction of room 132. Emmett was about to enter Ty's room, but Bay grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

"Wait," she signed. "What are we going to say?"

"We're just two friends visiting another friend, Bay," he signed, smirking again. "We'll ask him how he's doing and go from there."

Bay looked at him skeptically, but followed him into the room, nevertheless.

Ty, who had been watching TV, saw them enter and sat up a little.

"Hi, Bay!" Ty said, acknowledging her first, even though Emmett had been the one to enter the room first. "Hey, Emmett," he said, with less enthusiasm.

"Hey, Ty. We came to see how you were feeling." Bay said with a sympathetic smile.

"Thanks for coming! I told Toby that I hoped you'd come, but I didn't realize-" Ty cut himself off mid-sentence. "Never mind. Anyway, it's, uh, good to see you."

_Yeah, you didn't realize that Bay's boyfriend was going to come along to visit you, too, huh, Ty? _Emmett thought.

"So how's your leg?" Bay questioned, signing while speaking aloud.

"The doctors say it's healing well. They want to keep me here for another day or so to make sure it's alright, but they're feeling very good about the procedure," Ty explained.

"That's great," Bay smiled. Emmett nodded.

"Bay, why don't you go and get Ty something to drink. He looks a little pale," Emmett suggested.

Bay nodded, then said to Ty, "Let me get you a drink. You want a soda or something?"

"Uh, thanks. A coke would be great."

"K, I'll be right back," Bay said.

She touched Emmett on the shoulder, and gave him a stern look. "Don't do anything stupid," she warned.

Emmett signed, "Who_,__ me_?" and he shot her an innocent grin.

Bay rolled her eyes at him, seeing right through him. "Yes, you. _Be nice._"

After Bay left through the open door, Emmett shut the door, and turned to face Ty.

"So," Ty said, his eyes darting around the room. "What's up, man?"

Emmett stared at him and signed, "Don't play with me, Ty. You know why I'm here."

Ty smiled a smile that was verging on arrogant. "Yeah, I guess I do. Look, Emmett-"

Emmett interrupted him. "No, _you_ look, Ty. Bay told me what happened between you two when you went out to dinner." When Ty looked surprised and a little sheepish, Emmett continued, "We don't keep secrets from each other."

Ty raised an eyebrow. "You don't keep secrets from each other? Um, have you told Bay how you were in love with Daphne for about, oh, 6 years or so?" he asked sarcastically, a sarcasm so thick that Emmett had no trouble recognizing it.

Emmett felt uncomfortable. "I wasn't in love with Daphne!" he denied.

Ty grinned, sensing the shift in power. "Oh, sure you weren't. You were just good friends with her…a good friend who gazed at her adoringly when he thought nobody was looking and who glared at and insulted any guy Daphne dated." Ty sneered. "If you guys were only friends, then Bay and I were only friends. Bay and I were just friends who almost had se-"

Emmett took a step closer to the bed and started to sign before Ty could finish that sentence. "Fine, I used to have a crush on Daphne. So what? We never even kissed! And you know what? Now I have a girlfriend and Daphne has a boyfriend!" Emmett's anger was fueling his movements, his fingers slicing through the air forcefully. "And you know who my girlfriend is? _Bay_. Bay's with _me_ now, and nothing you say or do can change that, not even kissing her!"

Emmett was pleased to see Ty looking taken aback and not so sure of himself anymore. He continued to sign. "I bet you thought that kissing her would make her come back to you, right? I bet you thought that she wouldn't be able to resist your kiss, huh? Well, you were wrong. Bay is happier with me than she _ever_ was with you. I'm better for her in _all_ ways," Emmett said, emphasizing the "all ways" part, and smirking, making it very clear which ways he was talking about.

Ty seemed to be gaining back some of his confidence, though. "Bay was with _me_ first, Emmett."

Emmett sneered at Ty. "What is this, 3rd grade? Who _cares_ who she was with first? She's with _me_ now, and it's staying that way!"

Ty stared back at Emmett, a challenge in his gaze. "That's what _you_ think."

But before either of them could say any more, Bay returned with a can of soda in her hand. "Sorry, I had to get you a Sprite. They didn't have any coke left. First I stopped at the vending machine, but it was out of order. Then I decided to go to the hospital cafeteria to ask if they had any coke and they said no. What kind of place doesn't sell coke? After all, it's only the most popular soda in the wor-" Bay stopped rambling, finally noticing the tension in the room. "Wow, so things must have gone really well here!" Bay said, fake cheerfully. She handed Ty the Sprite.

"Thanks, Bay," Ty smiled at her. "You're the best." Emmett glared at him from behind Bay.

"Uh, sure. You're welcome," Bay said, her eyes darting back and forth between the two guys.

Emmett touched Bay's shoulder. "Let's go."

"Okaaay," Bay dragged the word out, not sure about what had happened in her absence, not sure if she even wanted to know. "Bye, Ty. Feel better."

Ty waved. As they entered the hall, Emmett grabbed Bay and kissed her passionately. She responded for a few seconds before gently pushing him away, telling him it was not the place for such things.

"Is your place the place?" Emmett asked, eyebrows raised suggestively.

She punched him gently on the shoulder, laughing. "Let's go, Romeo."

Emmett followed her, but not before glancing back triumphantly at Ty, who had been able to observe the whole interaction through the open door.

"I win, you lose," he mouthed and signed at Ty, and then smirking victoriously, he followed Bay out of the hospital.

A.N. Hey, readers! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! What'd you think of the Ty-Emmett confrontation? Additionally, let me know if there's something else you'd like for me to include (plotlines, etc.) in future chapters! I've been really flattered by the reviews I've gotten for this story! I didn't get so many reviews for the last chapter (chapter 4), but since I'm not the type of author who says, "I'll only update once I get 23 reviews for the last chapter!" I updated with this new chapter! Hope you liked it!


	6. Chapter 6

A.N. Hi, everyone! Sorry it's been a little while! Things have been a little hectic recently, so that's why my writing has been kind of sporadic. Before I proceed with this chapter, I wanted to explain a little bit about my writing. I'm sure most of you have noticed that I use quotation marks even when a character is signing something and not speaking it aloud. This is for a couple of reasons: a) I read a novel about deaf culture and it used quotation marks in there, even for when people were signing and b) because I don't see any reason not to. I mean, people say "She said to me in her email to me," or sentences like that, even though in an email, people aren't actually speaking aloud…so why should it differ here? "Saying" is not necessarily only for speaking aloud, which is why I use the term "said" in my story, too, when people are signing. I won't use the term speaking aloud unless the person is speaking aloud, but I will use said and responded and other words such as those for ASL and speaking aloud. ASL is a language in itself; the people who use it are saying things, too! I just wanted to explain that because most of the other writers on this site who have written fanfiction for SAB tend to differentiate with italics, bold, etc. This is my personal preference, and I think generally, you're probably able to glean who's saying what in what form without too much trouble.

And now, without further ado, here is Chapter 6!

_She punched him gently on the shoulder, laughing. "Let's go, Romeo."_

_Emmett followed her, but not before glancing back triumphantly at Ty, who had been able to observe the whole interaction through the open door._

_"I win, you lose," he mouthed and signed at Ty, and then smirking victoriously, he followed Bay out of the hospital._

Things had been pretty good in Emmett's life since he had gone with Bay to visit Ty in the hospital. He felt very confident that Ty had gotten the message he was trying to convey. For the next week and a half, things were back to normal, just like they'd been before Ty had shown up at Bay's garage door. Life was good.

That fateful Thursday started out normally enough. Emmett texted Bay in the morning, telling her he'd pick her up from school later, and Bay texted back "gr8."

Emmett went to school, took notes, did all the things he was supposed to do, hung out with friends during lunch, and then went back to classes.

He and Daphne performed their end of the day ritual, where they'd walk together to his motorcycle, and she'd wait for Wilke, who somehow almost always managed to sneak away from school early. Emmett never questioned him, but he always wondered how that was done on such a consistent basis.

The day was bright and sunny, a clear blue sky above as he drove to Buckner. He should've know that things were too good to be true.

He and Bay decided to head to their favorite park, since it was such a beautiful day. Emmett took out his camera and started taking shots of Bay posing in different positions.

He stopped after a few minutes for a make-out break. It was like the perfect day…until they left the park.

When they got back to the Kennishes', there was an unfamiliar car in the driveway.

"Do you know whose car that is?" Emmett asked Bay.

She shrugged. "Beats me." She grabbed his hand, leading him to her garage.

He tapped her on the shoulder once they got in there, to get her attention. "You know, as strange as it was at the beginning, I'm starting to get kind of attached to this garage."

She laughed at him. "I know. Girls in Buckner used to talk about their three different vacation homes, obviously located in different parts of the world, and I used to talk about my garage. It was only one of many differences between me and my peers."

Emmett quirked an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean?" he signed, curious.

"Well, the girls in my classes were all into shopping and clothes and spending money and caught up with the latest fashions in everything. I, on the other hand, went around spraypainting a girl with tools on various surfaces in town." She looked at him. "See the difference?"

"Yes," he said, coming closer to her. "And I, personally, am happy that you're different. If you were like the other girls, you wouldn't be my girlfriend," and he pecked her on the cheek.

The moment was disturbed by a knock on the door. "Come in!" shouted Bay, but then she realized that it might be Daphne, so she went to open the door. Just as she reached it, though, the door opened, admitting Emmett's least favorite person.

Emmett let out a silent groan when Ty stepped into the garage. Bay, who knew the way that Emmett thought without even seeing the expression on his face, turned to him and gave him a look.

"What's it going to take for this guy to realize he's not wanted and that he should stay away? A fight? Cuz I will totally fight him," Emmett signed at her, starting to push up his sleeves. Bay shook her head while rolling her eyes.

"Let's just see what he wants, ok?" she signed to him.

He glared at the ceiling and then waved his hand at her in a "let's get on with it" motion. She smiled at him briefly before turning back to Ty. Emmett moved closer so he could see what they were saying.

"Sorry about that," Bay apologized.

"It's fine," Ty said, ignoring Emmett.

"So how are you? When'd you get out the hospital?"

"I'm doing ok. I was discharged on Monday, but had to stay laid up in bed for a few days." Ty explained. "This is my first day of freedom!" he smiled.

"Free at last, huh?" Bay said, giving him a small smile.

"Yeah, and I really wanted to see you because, well," and Ty glanced at Emmett, for the first time acknowledging the other boy's existence. A mischievous glint was visible in his eyes. "I need to talk to you about something important."

Bay turned her head very slightly to the left, confused. "You have something important to talk to me about?" she parroted.

"Yeah, but I was hoping to do it in private," Ty said, shooting a significant look in Emmett's direction.

"Um…" Bay hesitated.

Emmett waved his hands furiously to get her attention. Once she looked at him, he signed furiously, "No way!"

For some strange and extremely frustrating reason, that seemed to spur Bay to say to Ty, "Ok, hold on." Then she turned to Emmett and signed, "Just two minutes, ok?"

Emmett's face started to heat up. "Two minutes? I'm not leaving you alone with _this_ loser for two minutes! I'm not leaving you alone with him for even one minute! Actually, I think _he_ should leave _now_, before he ends up leaving in a bodybag!"

"Emmett, if this is going to work out between us, you need to trust me a little more, ok?" Bay said, reassuringly but firmly. "I know this is not the best, most ideal situation, but let me just handle it, ok? Clearly Ty has something important to say to me."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he's got something important to say to you, I bet. All about how you and he belong together and how you should give him another chance." He saw Bay staring at him, though, and he conceded. "Fine, two minutes, but I'm going to start timing on my watch from the second I leave this room, and I'm going to be waiting right outside the door."

Bay came closer to him, cupped her hand behind his head, and pulled him down for a passionate kiss.

" You're the best," she signed when they broke apart.

"Yeah, yeah. Two minutes and not a second more, ok?" Emmett signed, and glared at Ty as he left.

"If looks could kill…" Ty said lightly.

Bay smiled at him and said, "Yeah, well, Emmett isn't exactly your biggest fan. So, what's up?"

Ty smiled slyly. "It's actually about Emmett."

Bay took a step back. "Listen, Ty, if you're here to try to talk me into breaking up with him, it's not going to happen."

Ty held up his hands in front of him defensively. "It's not that, I swear. Ok, I'm going to talk fast because I'm sure as soon as our two minutes are up, Emmett's going to barge in here and kick me out."

Bay nodded, agreeing with his assessment of the situation.

"Now, I know that you and Emmett have been together for a while, like 6 ½ months or so, right?"

Bay nodded again.

"When was the first time you were in his room?" Ty questioned.

"I don't know, like a month after we started dating or something," Bay said, not sure where this was heading.

"So you weren't in there before you and he were official?"

"Right…"

"So he had time to take it down, maybe." Ty muttered to himself.

"Ty, what are you talking about?" Bay was getting impatient.

"Did you know that Emmett was in love with Daphne?" Ty blurted out, and then looked slightly sheepish. "Darn, I didn't mean to say it like that." He looked at Bay.

Bay's mouth was agape. "_What?"_ Then she shook her head vigorously. "No, no. You're wrong. Emmett was never in love with Daphne."

"I was in Emmett's room shortly before I left," Ty said. "I think I had stopped by to pick up a book to give you to give Daphne or something. When I stepped into his room, his walls had pictures of Daphne plastered all over. It was like a shrine or something. He had pictures and pictures of her at all ages. It was bordering on obsessive, I think."

"No, no," Bay was shaking her head. "He would've told me at some point. I mean, he knows about me and Liam, me and you….He would've told me if he had a thing for Daphne. He would've _told _ me, Ty." She was in denial now, but something in her was telling her that maybe Ty wasn't lying.

There was twenty seconds left to their two minutes, but Bay ran to the garage door, wrenched it open, and pulled Emmett by the sleeve back into the garage.

"You were in love with _Daphne?" _Bay shrieked, forgetting to sign. "You were in love with Daphne and you never told me?"

Emmett eyes opened wide, his face going pale, and his freckles more pronounced. Unsure what to say to Bay, he turned to Ty and punched him in the face. Ty fell back, clutching his nose.

"What the-?" Ty said thickly, blood pouring from between his fingers. Emmett went to punch him again, but Bay grabbed him before he could.

"Stop it!" she shouted, but this time she remembered to sign it, too.

"I was- I never" Emmett started, but Bay started signing before he got any coherent thoughts out.

"I can't believe that you have nothing to say to me! I can't believe that you were in love with Daphne, with your best friend, with our friend, with the closest thing that I have to a sister, and never even told me about it!" Bay yelled and signed simultaneously.

With that, she ran out the door of the garage, just as the mystery car was started by the driver. Bay, though, was too distracted by her pain and confusion to hear the car starting and see the lights, and she ran in back of the car, soon after it started to back up. It hit her with a sickening thud, heard only by Ty, but seen by both he and Emmett.

The rest of the blood drained from Emmett's face. He ran to Bay, praying that she was still breathing. Ty ran to her, too, but Emmett pushed him away.

"This is _your_ fault!" Emmett signed furiously at Ty.

"If this is anyone's fault, it's _your_ fault!" Ty responded. They were about to break out into another fight when the driver of the car, a lady wearing a black pantsuit, saw Bay's unconscious body and started screaming.

John and Kathryn ran out of the house, saw Bay lying on the ground, and started shouting. 

"Kathryn, call 911!"

"My baby!" Kathryn screamed. "MY BABY!"

Seeing that his wife was in no position to be doing anything at the moment, John looked around, saw the mysterious lady in the pantsuit who was clearly in shock, and then saw Ty and Emmett, clearly about to come to blows.

" Ty! Call 911! Now!"

Ty did as told, and only a few minutes later, sirens could be heard approaching the house.

The EMT's quickly sized up the situation and brought out a stretcher for Bay, quickly lifting her onto it, and speeding off with Kathryn in the back, oxygen held to her face.

"You boys should go home," John shouted, as he ran to get into his car.

_Is he kidding? _Emmett thought. _The love of my life is unconscious, and he thinks I'm going home? Not a chance! Not until I know Bay's okay. _

With that, Emmett sped off on his motorcycle, disregarding speed limits, and barely stopping at stop signs. Ty apparently had the same idea, because he arrived at the hospital shortly after Emmett.

Emmett wouldn't _ever_ admit this to _anyone_, but was slightly slightly glad that Ty was there, because Ty was able to speak to the nurse behind at the desk, asking where Bay Kennish was brought. Emmett was ever so slightly grateful that he didn't have to waste precious time asking for paper to write out Bay's name or trying to mime everything.

Emmett ran down the hall after Ty, his stomach located somewhere around his ankles. They found Kathryn and John pacing outside room 232, their faces looking like they'd aged 20 years in the past 25 minutes.

Emmett leaned against the wall, his arms subconsciously folding. When he realized how he was standing, he felt tears begin to well in his eyes.

"_Don't give me the sultry James Dean look,_" he heard Bay say in his head. "_What the hell were you thinking, kissing me like that?" _

_Oh, Bay, _Emmett thought. _Please wake up. Please be okay. _

A few minutes later, a doctor came out. The Kennishes, Daphne & Regina (who had arrived a few minutes after him), Ty, and Emmett all rushed to him.

"Bay is in a coma," the doctor said.

Kathryn's knees buckled and John caught her, holding her up. "Can we see her?" John asked, his voice cracking.

"Yes, but not all at once. One or two at a time," the doctor said before giving them a sympathetic look and hurrying off.

John and Kathryn came out of Bay's room sooner than anyone expected. "Kathryn's not strong enough to be in there yet," John told them quietly. Regina signed what he had said for Emmett and Daphne, but Emmett had already caught the gist of it.

Regina touched him on the shoulder, and pointed in the direction of Bay's room. "You go," she signed emotionally.

He walked slowly to the room, and pushed open the door. He stood at the foot of the bed, just staring at her, so silent, so still, so _wrong_ for someone who usually so full of life. He moved closer to her and took her hand.

Then, for the first time in 8 years, Emmett spoke aloud. "Don't leave me, Bay."

A.N. Ok, this chapter went in such a different direction that I thought it'd go! I started writing, and then it kind of finished writing itself, and by the end, I was like, "Whoa, am I really ending the chapter like that?"

I just want to clarify one thing. I do not believe that speaking is something that Emmett should strive for or that Bay should strive for, which is why I don't have Bay asking Emmett to speak. ASL is its own language and I see no reason that speaking should be a goal for deaf people unless they want it to be. I just wanted to put that out there. That's why I was kind of surprised by my ending, but I think I still kind of like it. What do you think? Thanks for the fabulous reviews!


	7. Chapter 7

_Regina touched him on the shoulder, and pointed in the direction of Bay's room. "You go," she signed emotionally._

_He walked slowly to the room, and pushed open the door. He stood at the foot of the bed, just staring at her, so silent, so still, so __wrong__ for someone who usually so full of life. He moved closer to her and took her hand._

_Then, for the first time in 8 years, Emmett spoke aloud. "Don't leave me, Bay."_

Emmett stayed in with Bay for another two minutes, just holding her hand, before he left. When he stepped into the hallway, Regina and Daphne looked at him, but he avoided their gaze. Ty was still out there, too, but Emmett was too distracted to think much about him. He walked down the hallway and out of the building, breathing in the fresh air before mounting his bike and heading home.

His mother was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee when he arrived. She stood up when she saw him and approached him.

"What happened? What's wrong?" she questioned, concerned by the look on his face. "Emmett, tell me what's wrong!"

"Bay's in the hospital," he responded, his movements short and stilted.

Melody's eyebrows shot up. "How? What happened?" she asked, repeating her earlier refrain.

"She was hit by a car." Emmett wasn't in the mood to elaborate and explain how she got hit by the car, so he was making his responses as short as possible, hoping his mother would get the point.

She did. "Oh, Emmett," she said, and then drew him close to her and embraced him.

He let himself be slightly comforted for a few seconds before gently withdrawing. "I'm going to my room."

After he shut the door to his room, he collapsed on his bed, shoes and all, reflecting on the day.

_It started out so perfectly. The weather, school, spending time with Bay. Then Ty came and messed everything up, as usual. _Emmett's thoughts jumped. _Ty was still at the hospital when I left, waiting to see Bay probably. Ty can go into her room and talk to her like people say you're supposed to without worrying about how his voice sounds or whether hearing and deaf people are just too dissimilar to mix. _

Emmett's thoughts were whirling. Even though he had spoken to Bay in her hospital room, it was weird for him because he hadn't spoken in so long. It also made him think about their relationship. For so long, he'd been so sure that hearing and deaf people couldn't mix, couldn't date or become serious about each other, and then he'd met Bay. She was so full of life, so funny, so beautiful, that he just couldn't help falling for her. He decided to rethink his views on deaf-hearing relationships and was happy he had done so, because Bay was amazing. Bay was the one who knew how to make him smile when he'd had a tough day or had argued with his mom. Bay was the one who knew what he was thinking practically before he knew he had thought it.

_No, it doesn't matter whether Bay is hearing or deaf; we have more important things in common. We connect on so many levels together that sometimes it seems like the rest of life just falls by the wayside, _Emmett determined. _I won't leave her in this difficult time, no matter what I have to do. _

And with those semi-reassuring thoughts settled, Emmett fell into an uneasy sleep filled with a yelling girl with hurt feelings. 

In school the next day, Emmett felt like he had forgotten something, but he couldn't figure out what. He figured he'd go visit Bay after school today, although he wasn't sure what he'd do when he was there. Would he just hold her hand? Would he talk to her? That last option wasn't his ideal. It felt weird, and it seemed rather futile since Bay hadn't actually heard his voice when she was awake, so it's not like she could recognize it when she was in a coma.

Daphne wasn't in school, though. He figured that Regina or one of the Kennishes would've called the school and explained the situation, thereby letting her hang out at the hospital. Sure enough, Daphne texted him right after lunch. _At hospital w Bay & fam. Waiting for news. _Emmett had anticipated a text like that and was reassured when he received it…at least until he read the last line of the text. _Thought you should know, Ty's here. _

Ah, there we go. _That's_ what had been niggling at Emmett. Ty didn't have school to attend. He could be with Bay all day long, while Emmett was holed up in Mr. Tandir's English class talking about Shakespeare.

_Forget this,_ Emmett thought. _I'm not staying here. I'll explain to Mom later. _Emmett picked up his bag, walked out like normal, but instead of heading to his next class, he went into the parking lot, got on his bike, and headed toward the hospital. He was at a red light when he got another text from Daphne. _What's it going to say this time? _he wondered. _Ty was caught trying to kiss Bay while she's comatose? Wouldn't put it past the jerk_, he thought resentfully, once again ignoring the fact that he (Emmett) really had liked the guy before he (Ty) left and then came back, trying to resume his relationship with the girl he left behind, who happened to be Emmett's current girlfriend.

When Emmett actually opened the text though, it was much better news. _Bay woke up_, Daphne had texted. Upon reading the text, happiness welled up in Emmett. It felt like it started somewhere in his stomach, and then quickly spread upward to his heart. It was like a heartbeat of happiness that pulsed through him, energizing him to get to the hospital faster.

When he arrived, he ran into the hospital, eagerly anticipating seeing Bay awake and being able to reassure himself that she was going to be okay. He skidded to a stop outside her hospital room, though, when he saw her family gathered there, along with Ty.

Daphne approached him, concern- and was that fear?- etched on her face.

"Emmett," she said, putting a hand on his arm. "There's something-"

"Can I see her?" he wanted to know, figuring whatever Daphne wanted to say could wait. Right after he said that, he saw Toby exit her room, and Emmett took the opportunity to enter.

Bay was sitting elevated in bed, some of the color back in her cheeks. Obviously she still looked worn-out and like, well, like she'd been hit by a car, but Emmett was positive he had never seen a sight as beautiful as Bay's eyes open and looking at him.

"Hi… Emmett," she spoke slowly.

Emmett grinned at her. "Hi," he mouthed, and waved. He came around to the side of her bed and leaned down to give her a kiss, but she moved away. He looked at her and saw confusion marring her features.

He gave her a questioning look that said _What's wrong? Why don't you want me to kiss you?_ The look she gave him back though was anything but reassuring.

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed.

He smiled uncertainly at her, not sure whether she was still upset at him about the revelation of his former feelings for Daphne or whether her head was too sore for him to even get near.

"Sorry," he signed quickly. "Does your head hurt?"

"What are you saying? Why are you here? You're Daphne's friend. I don't understand," Bay babbled. "And where's Ty? Why'd he leave before? Can you tell him to come back in? I want to see Ty!"

"Why do you want to see Ty?" Emmett signed, slower this time, but very flustered.

"I want to see my boyfriend!" Bay exclaimed, and then sunk back against the pillows, clearly fatigued by the excitement. "Please," she spoke, softly.

Emmett felt the joy that had been in his heart since Daphne's last text fly out of him, and, as if that joy was the thing keeping his heart light and afloat, he felt his heart sink down to his stomach.

Emmett strode out of the room, went up to Daphne and started signing furiously, "What's going on? Why is she asking to see _Ty_? Why did she call _him_ her boyfriend? What's going on?" His movements became jerkier with each question.

Daphne sighed. "This is what I was trying to tell you before. Something happened to her memory when she hit her head on the pavement after the car hit her." Emmett looked at Daphne impatiently, waiting to hear more. "The doctor called it retrograde amnesia." Daphne fingerspelled the last phrase.

"What the heck does that mean?" Emmett didn't like where this was going, but he wanted to know what was going on _now_.

Regina cut into their conversation at that point, putting a reassuring hand on Emmett's shoulder. He shrugged it off, not in the mood for any coddling. "It means," Regina signed, "that because of the head injury that Bay got when she hit the ground, she doesn't remember events that happened before her injury."

"How long before her injury?" Emmett asked, filled with trepidation.

"Dr. Langhorn, Bay's doctor, says that it can vary for each patient. Bay, it seems, though, can't remember most of the last 7 months," Regina explained, fearful of Emmett's reaction. Her fears were well-founded, for when Emmett finally understood what Regina had just signed to him, he exploded.

"You mean that Bay can't remember anything of our relationship?" Emmett's hands were flying through the air, his movements large and filled with emotion. "How long is this going to last?"

"The doctor says-" Regina started, but Emmett interrupted her.

"'The doctor says, the doctor says,'" Emmett burst out in frustration. "Who is this doctor? And what does he know?"

Daphne, who had been watching the interaction silently until now, decided to interrupt. "Let me talk to him now, Mom," she said to Regina, pulling Emmett gently along with her to a place further down the hall, further away from Bay's room.

"Emmett, the doctor says that this type of amnesia varies in how long it lasts. The doctor says we're lucky that this wasn't coupled with anterograde amnesia because that would've been much worse," Daphne explained calmly.

"Retrograde? Anterograde?" Emmett fingerspelled. "Who the heck cares about these names? I just want to know when my girlfriend will remember that _I'm_ her boyfriend, and not the jerk who left her and then came back, expecting her to have waited for him!"

Anger is a funny thing. Often it's something that humans use as a shield, as it protects them from having to really accept reality and give in to the devastating or hurtful emotions that can sometimes be associated with that reality.

That is what was definitely happening with Emmett. Daphne could see this, and wished she could help her friend, but wasn't sure how. How do you comfort your friend whose girlfriend doesn't remember him? She hugged him, but he pulled away after a few seconds.

"I have to go," he signed quickly and loped off down the hall, out of the hospital. He got on his bike, revved his engine, and was off, the wind in his face and hair cooling his tempestuous thoughts and emotions.

When he got to his house, he stomped inside, storming past his mother without even acknowledging her. Melody, fortunately, had spoken to Regina shortly before Emmett arrived, so she knew some of what had happened and wisely decided to let Emmett cool off before attempting to talk to him.

Emmett slammed the door to his room closed, and although he couldn't hear the noise associated with the action, he felt the resulting vibrations, and that was satisfactory in itself.

He walked around his room, looking at the pictures of Bay and of him with Bay that were plastered on his wall. There were photos of them laughing, photos of them giving each other bunny ears, photos of them making crazy faces, photos of them kissing, and photos of them smiling…and in every picture, the happiness that he and Bay both felt from being together was visible.

He lay down horizontally on his bed, so he was perpendicular to his pillow, his head and feet hanging over different sides of the bed.

_What am I going to do now? _He thought. He had never felt so uncertain in his life. He had always been self-assured, knew what he was doing, knew who he was, even though others might think he should feel self-conscious because of his deafness. That wasn't the way it was at all for him, though. Deaf people have their own culture, their own language, their own jokes, and Emmett rarely ever felt an inkling of resentment that he couldn't hear. It was a part of who he was, and he was fine with that. That was one of the factors that had made him so anti deaf-hearing relationships. He figured that a hearing person couldn't possibly understand that he didn't mind not hearing, that he was totally fine with who he was. Then he met Bay, and she was fine with who he was right away…more than fine, if he did say so himself. She interacted with him like she would've with a hearing boyfriend, only she had to learn a different language to interact with him. But she caught on quickly and was eager to learn, and he was eager to teach. The more she knew, the easier it became for them to communicate and converse, and the better they got to know each other, and the deeper their relationship got.

_How do I get that back with Bay? _Emmett wondered. _How am I supposed to make her remember what we had- what we __**have**__, when the reason we became so close so fast was because Ty was out of the picture? Except now he's back, and he's in the picture, and he's not leaving, and I'm at a disadvantage. _Emmett didn't like the feeling of being at a disadvantage; it felt so contrary to who he was. _How am I going to teach Bay sign language a second time? What if she's not so motivated to learn? After all, she thinks her "boyfriend" is a hearing guy! _

The despairing feelings were starting to weigh Emmett down even more, and he really didn't want them to. He sat up, his eye catching the picture near his bed. _Things sure have changed_, he thought. _A few months ago, I never would have guessed that I'd be sitting here, thinking about my girlfriend this way…thinking about how to get her to remember me…or rather, remember __**us**_.

But as Emmett looked at the picture some more, his determination grew. He cared too much for Bay to let this setback tear them apart forever. He wouldn't just sit by lazily, waiting to see if she ever remembered her relationship with him. He was going to be proactive, make things happen. _You'll see, Bay,_ he thought, sending her the message telepathically, _you'll remember us again soon. _

A.N. Hey, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know the idea might be rather cliché, but the reason I wanted to use it is because it has a couple of advantages: a) as I said in a previous A.N., I love angst, so this was a good way to insert some of that, and b) this is the real reason why I wanted to use this idea in this story…it's not just a typical "someone wakes up, doesn't remember stuff" story…the difference is, it's another language that became a part of the person (Bay's) life, and how/if she's going to relearn that language…and how Emmett is going to help her relearn that language. You see, it's not like in other stories where he can just bring her somewhere and say, "hey, remember when we were here and I kissed you for the first time?" because he's using another language when he interacts with her, a language that she's forgotten. Plus, I'm not going to have Emmett just start speaking all the time in this story, because then it's not Bay getting to know Emmett again because that's not who he is (at least for the purposes of this story). So I hope you're okay with the ideas (and if not, sorry!) and that you enjoy the way I relate the plotlines. Please review! They make me happy!


	8. Chapter 8

A.N. Hey, readers! Once again, thanks for the reviews, for those of you who reviewed! It always motivates me to write…Sorry I haven't updated in almost a week, but my schedule has been very hectic recently. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please review and let me know what you think!

_How do I get that back with Bay? __Emmett wondered. __How am I supposed to make her remember what we had- what we __**have**__, when the reason we became so close so fast was because Ty was out of the picture? Except now he's back, and he's in the picture, and he's not leaving, and I'm at a disadvantage. __Emmett didn't like the feeling of being at a disadvantage; it felt so contrary to who he was. __How am I going to teach Bay sign language a second time? What if she's not so motivated to learn? After all, she thinks her "boyfriend" is a hearing guy! _

_The despairing feelings were starting to weigh Emmett down even more, and he really didn't want them to. He sat up, his eye catching the picture near his bed. __Things sure have changed__, he thought. __A few months ago, I never would have guessed that I'd be sitting here, thinking about my girlfriend this way…thinking about how to get her to remember me…or rather, remember __**us**__._

_But as Emmett looked at the picture some more, his determination grew. He cared too much for Bay to let this setback tear them apart forever. He wouldn't just sit by lazily, waiting to see if she ever remembered her relationship with him. He was going to be proactive, make things happen. __You'll see, Bay,__ he thought, sending her the message telepathically, __you'll remember us again soon. _

A few days later, Emmett woke up in the morning more determined than ever to get Bay to remember. Thinking about the various memories he had with Bay had brought a smile to his face, and had encouraged him to proceed with his plans. It was pretty handy that Bay lived in the same place as his best friend, and he was going to use that to his advantage.

He drove over to the Kennishes', figuring that he could stop in and visit Bay (who had been discharged from the hospital) on the pretext that he had come to the house to visit Daphne. He popped into Daphne's room momentarily so that he wasn't completely lying to Bay, and so if Bay asked Daphne about it, he'd be covered. True, maybe he was overanalyzing, but that was kind of the mindset he was in right now.

Daphne was listening to music, tapping her foot along with it, when he popped his head into her doorway. He waved, she responded, and then he was off on his mission.

When he got to Bay's room, the door was mostly closed, so he knocked, waited a second or two, and then went in. His high hopes for the day plummeted when he entered her room. Ty was sitting there with Bay, laughing with her.

_That used to be me_, Emmett thought, clenching his fists. _That's __**supposed **__to be me. _He strengthened his resolve, though, and thought, _That __**will**__ be me. _

"Hey," he waved at the pair, mentally grimacing at thinking of them as "together".

Ty smirked and waved back, scooting his chair closer to Bay's bed. Bay waved to him, too, confusion on her face.

"I was visiting Daphne and thought I'd stop in to see how you were doing, Bay," he explained, using his prepared excuse.

Ty snickered, his skepticism evident. Emmett just stared at him, wordlessly telling him, _I don't care what you think. Bay's going to be with me soon. _

Ty stared back, challenging him. _She thinks __**I'm **__her boyfriend now. _

Emmett took a deep breath, calming himself down so that he could do what he came here for, and not get distracted by punching Ty in the face…despite how tempting it was.

"How are you feeling?" Emmett signed, very slowly, mouthing the words while doing so in order for Bay to understand.

Bay still looked at him a little suspiciously but still answered, "Fine, better, I guess."

He smiled at her, hoping the tension he was feeling wasn't apparent in his smile. He wracked his mind for something else to say, but to be honest, he hadn't prepared for Ty to be there when he visited. He was having a hard time resisting the urge to stride over to Bay's bed, lean down, and kiss the accident out of her, making her remember him. But he knew that wasn't going to happen, no matter how much he wanted to stick it to Ty.

Thankfully, finally something went right, because Bay glanced at the clock, then looked at Ty. "Didn't you say you have an appointment at 4:45, Ty? You probably need to go now, right?"

Ty looked torn, clearly not wanting to leave Emmett alone with Bay, but knowing that this appointment was important and that he couldn't be late. Finally, he gave in, bent down and gave Bay a kiss, eyeing Emmett while doing so, and then heading to the door.

The temptation to punch the guy got stronger when he kissed Bay, but Emmett resisted the urge yet again, instead deciding to unnerve Ty by raising his eyebrows at him while leaving, clearly conveying his pleasure that he (Emmett) was now going to be left alone with Bay. Ty glared back, trying to instill fear into Emmett but it didn't work.

_I __**invented**__ the killer glare_, Emmett stared back at Ty. _You're not going to intimidate me. _

After Ty finally left, Emmett walked closer to Bay, careful to maintain a sensitive distance between them because he see the wariness in Bay's eyes as he approached.

"So, what's the deal with us?" Bay asked. Emmett laughed. _She may not remember everything, but she's still the same upfront Bay as always. _"I mean, I sense that there's something between us, but, you're just Daphne's friend, right?"

A ribbon of hope was unwinding in Emmett's heart, making his heartbeat faster. _If she can sense something, then hopefully this will be easier than I thought!_

"You and I also became really" Emmett paused, unsure which word to use that would best describe their relationship, "close."

She raised her eyebrows at him, sensing there was more. "Close?" she asked, tilting her head to the side and looking at him. "How close?"

Emmett smiled. "Really close." He took out some pictures that he had brought of her and of the two of them together (although he had sadly decided that any pictures of the two of them looking more than friendly were not for this visit).

She looked at him, her gaze seemingly seeing into his soul. "You're a photographer?" she asked, looking up at him after examining the pictures.

"Yeah, we bonded over our love for art. That's how we became close."

"Hm, sounds plausible enough," she said.

Emmett smiled at her questioningly. "You think I'd lie to you about this?"

"Um, I don't really know you or remember you in any context except for being Daphne's friend, so I don't know if you're a pathological liar or a saint."

He smirked at her. "Closer to a saint."

His heart warmed when he saw her laugh. It was like even though mentally, she didn't remember him so well, the dynamic between them hadn't changed so much because maybe her heart remembered him.

" I bet," she teased.

"So, are you allowed to leave the house?" Emmett asked, unsure about the rules.

"If my parents know where I'm going and who I'm going with and have the number of the person I'm going to be with, then yeah," she responded. "'Course, they probably also will want the person's social security number, birth certificate, and last three report cards, too," she finished sarcastically.

"Well, I don't have my last three report cards or my birth certificate with me today, but I can give them my phone number and social security number, if they really need it," Emmett replied, smiling. Bay laughed again, and Emmett continued, on a roll, "If they agreed, would you be up to go to the park with me? Just to hang out? It's really great weather."

"Sure," Bay replied. "Why not? I don't really know you all that well, or at least I don't remember you all that well, but I get the sense that we _are_ close, like you said. It'd be nice to get out of this room."

He helped her down the stairs, saw her calling out to her parents to see where they were. Once again, they were in the kitchen, so he and Bay headed in that direction. The Kennishes' hadn't lost their memories, so they were perfectly fine with Emmett taking Bay to a park. Their only concern was about how he was going to get her there.

"I don't think Bay's up to riding on your motorcycle yet, Emmett," Kathryn said, concerned. "Do you want to take one of our cars?" she offered.

"I brought my mother's car today because I didn't want to inconvenience Bay if she wasn't feeling up to riding on my bike," Emmett responded, glad he had thought ahead. Kathryn and John smiled at his thoughtfulness (_score one for Emmett_), kissed Bay good-bye, and shooed them out of the door.

Emmett drove them to the park that they'd spent a lot of time in. A couple of months ago, they had agreed that it was kind of "their place." Today, he had brought along a blanket to sit on and some water bottles in case they got thirsty.

Bay sat down, breathing in deeply. "Wow, it really _is _nice out today…although some of this might be attributed to the fact that I've mostly been holed up in my room for the past couple of days, so traveling to a dumpster might be nicer than the stale air in my room."

Emmett was pleased to see that Bay was, consciously or unconsciously he wasn't sure, slowing down her speech so that he could understand. Apparently, her body was remembering some of the signs that he had taught her, too, because she was using a few of them.

"Well, sorry this isn't a dumpster, if that's what you were looking for," he teased, "but I thought this would be nicer. We liked to come here a lot."

She looked at him, her gaze so clear and innocent, yet so curious. "What'd we do here when we came? Just sit and talk?"

Emmett flashed back to one of their trips to this park. It had been a really hot day and they'd decided to bring a picnic lunch and sit in the shade and eat together. They'd brought along plenty of water, too, to make sure they didn't get dehydrated.

_They were sitting together under a tree, alternately kissing and chatting. Bay suddenly flopped down on her back, putting her hand melodramatically over her forehead, then signed, "I'm so hot!" _

_He gave her a suggestive look. "Yes, you are. So am I." _

"_Very funny," she replied, her mock displeasure giving way to a huge grin. "Ugh, I __**long**__ for winter, for the cold, for when this heat will stop!" _

"_You know, there are ways to keep cool," Emmett said, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. _

"_Yeah, what's that?" she asked, skeptical._

"_Well," he signed, opening a water bottle secretly at his side so that Bay couldn't see, "water's supposed to be good for keeping cool." _

"_Emmett," she said, sitting up slightly, leaning on her elbows, "has the heat gotten to you? We don't have a pool here! We could've just stayed at my house if we wanted to swim!" She looked at him like he was crazy._

"_Who said anything about a pool?" he asked innocently._

"_Then what-?" Bay started to ask, but before she could finish her question, Emmett dumped a third of his water bottle on her head. "Emmett!" he saw her scream. He doubled over laughing, until he saw her grab another water bottle and start to open it. That's when he ran for it. _

_They must've looked like fools to any outsider, but to him, it was the most fun he'd had in a while. It was light-hearted, good, clean fun that just brought the two of them closer together. She finally caught up to him and poured her whole water bottle on him, effectively soaking him. He shook his head back and forth, droplets flying this way and that, and then signed to her, "Always plan ahead…" and he indicated her empty water bottle and his 2/3 full water bottle. He saw her start to scream and then run, and he ran after her, slowed down by his laughter. _

_He caught up to her a few feet from the tree they had been sitting under, grabbed her around the waist, and poured most of the rest of his water bottle over her. "What'd I tell you?" he asked, lowering her gently to the ground, and then proceeded to kiss her like never before. _

_When they came up for air, he asked her, "So, feeling cooler?"_

"_Yup," she responded, leaning against his shoulder. _

"_Good, how about now?" he asked, and then poured the remaining ounce of water over her head. _

"_Emmett!" she squealed, laughing, and they started to make out again. _

Snapping back to the present, Emmett remembered Bay's question and answered simply, "Yeah, we'd sit and talk, sometimes bring a game or something, ate some food."

Bay looked around. "I like this place."

Emmett looked at her, and signed, "Me, too."

A.N. Alright, everyone. I know that not so much happened in this chapter, but as in all books and stuff, not every single page is going to be filled with action. There needs to be good, light-hearted stuff in between to get to the more climactic moments, right? Anyway, the next chapter, too, will probably contain some flashback-y stuff, but I don't want to drag it out too long, so at most there will be one more chapter of solely flashback stuff. I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know what you thought!


	9. Chapter 9

_Snapping back to the present, Emmett remembered Bay's question and answered simply, "Yeah, we'd sit and talk, sometimes bring a game or something, ate some food."_

_Bay looked around. "I like this place."_

_Emmett looked at her, and signed, "Me, too."_

Over the next two weeks, Emmett managed to spend some quality time with Bay at least every other day. Fortunately, between Ty's temporary job at a hardware store and Ty's doctor's appointments, there wasn't much objection from that side, because he wasn't around when Emmett was.

When it was relatively nice out, Emmett and Bay would go to "their" park. Bay was picking up sign language more quickly than she had the first time, which didn't really surprise Emmett. He figured that some of her memories were being triggered and that helped. He didn't push it, though, because he didn't want her to pull away or think he was pressuring her to remember.

One of his favorite days was when he rode his bike to the Kennishes', and Bay decided that she'd like to try riding on it with him. After ascertaining that it was okay with Kathryn, off they went!

Bay held on tight to Emmett, and he relished every second of it. It was the closest and most intimate position they'd been in for almost a month! He wished they hadn't decided on a destination beforehand because he would've loved to just drive around and around aimlessly, enjoying Bay's embrace around his middle.

"Wow!" Bay said, her cheeks flushed, her hair windswept. "That was _awesome_!"

He beamed at her, shooting her his most winsome smile. "Wanna go again?" he asked.

She laughed at him. "Let's just sit down for a little bit."

They found a bench (instead of just sitting in the grass like they usually did), and sat there absorbing the sights and smells of nature. After five minutes of silence, Bay turned to Emmett and said simply, "I really like spending time with you."

Emmett smiled at her, but didn't respond. Inside him, though, there was a mini-Emmett jumping up and down, pumping his fist in the air, shouting, "YES!"

Another couple of minutes passed before Bay turned to him again. "I can see how we became close."

Emmett almost jumped out of his skin. "You mean you remember?" he signed excitedly, and then he started signing faster. "You remember us? You remember how we were together, how we got together, how close we were?"

Bay laughed at him a bit. "Whoa, ok, I don't know what second part of what you just said was, but as for the first part…no, I don't remember much about you and me yet, although I think I'm starting to remember on my own signs that I learned."

Emmett deflated momentarily, but quickly tried to wipe the disappointment off of his face before Bay could see it.

"I was just saying that after spending time with you over the past couple of weeks, I can understand more how we became close, like you told me when I first woke up and didn't think we were really friends. Understand, now?"

Emmett nodded, giving her a small smile, while the hope he had felt only a few seconds earlier fell *splat* to his feet. But he reminded himself about the positive things that Bay had said about him and her, and the hope was revived a little bit.

"Tell me more about how we became friends," Bay requested, stretching out her legs in front of her.

"You saw me standing outside Buckner, waiting for Daphne and taking pictures," Emmett said with a nostalgic little smile, remembering that first real interaction. "You had just gotten the picture of Regina when she was pregnant with you, and you wanted me to blow up the picture to see if we could see what the parking sticker in the window of the car said." Emmett laughed a little at the next part. "Instead of doing that, I just looked at the license plate and was able to get the address of where the car was located."

Bay tilted her head at him, "I didn't think of that?"

Emmett shook his head at her, grinning.

"I hope I'm smarter with the way my brain is now," Bay said, smirking, and Emmett laughed.

"Anyway, we ditched school and went to the car lot where the car was located and looked around," he continued.

"What?" Bay exclaimed. "That's crazy! How did you expect to find that one car in a whole lot of cars?"

Emmett smirked at her. "That's what you said back then, too."

Bay laughed, and Emmett continued with the story. "We actually found it pretty soon after we got there. You got all excited, looked in the car, didn't find anything, and then kicked the car in frustration." Emmett grinned, remembering Bay's next remark to him. "You ranted for a minute to me, and then you told me that I was the best listener that you knew. I convinced you to look back in the car once more, and you found a guitar pick."

Bay looked skeptical. "I found a guitar pick? What good did that do?"

Emmett laughed at how similar her reactions were now to back then. "You felt pretty much the same way back then. I, however, saved the day with my great memory!" he signed with pride.

Bay smirked at him. "Yeah? What'd you remember?"

Emmett feigned mock hurt at her skepticism. "I'll have you know, when Daphne and I were younger, we found a guitar case. When Regina saw us with it, she got really mad and grabbed it away. I didn't know what happened next."

Bay snorted at him. "Well, that's rather anticlimactic." Then she stopped, thinking for a moment, and asked. "How'd we communicate if I didn't know sign?"

Emmett grinned at her question. "Well, it was a little like when you first woke up from your coma, except harder because you really had never learned it. We basically played charades, but you caught on pretty quickly." Emmett paused and then continued, "I think you told me it was like I was speaking Russian."

She laughed again, and said, "So what happened next, Boris?"

He grinned, and told her. "Well, I remembered that Regina had left some of her stuff in our garage, so we went to look there. We didn't find the guitar case, but you found your birth certificate that stated your father's name: Angelo Sorrento. You were pretty excited about that."

Bay nodded, remembering that name.

"You researched the name and found a guy with that name who was around the right age and had your dark hair. He was a DJ, so you, Daphne, and I went to visit the club he was working at that night."

Emmett stopped talking, slightly alarmed by the strange look on Bay's face. "You okay?"

Bay nodded slowly. "And," she said slowly, "it was a gay bar, right? And we went to a diner afterwards?"

Emmett's eyebrows shot up. "Yeah!" he signed excitedly.

"I think I remember the feeling I had," Bay continued remembering slowly. "I felt disappointed and frustrated, like I didn't want to go through it again."

"That's right!" Emmett said. "You said you just wanted to give up!"

A smile spread across Bay's face. "I remembered something!" She scrunched up her nose a little bit. "You know, I never thought I'd be so excited to remember something I already knew."

Emmett felt his excitement mounting. If she remembered that, then maybe she remembered other stuff that happened around that time. "You know, in the middle of the father debacle, we also shared our first dance. Do you remember that?"

Brows furrowed, Bay concentrated, trying to think back to that time, seeing what she could remember. "It was like there was paint around…were we dancing in my garage?"

"Yeah!"

"Something about birds? Wait, that doesn't make any sense…there are no birds in my garage."

Emmett sat up straight, "No, you're right! There were bird noises on the tape we were dancing to!"

She gave him a strange look. "No offense, but how do _you_ know?"

He laughed, realizing how strange it sounded. "You told me," he explained.

"Oh."

"The day after the whole gay bar-not real father thing, I came to visit you at your school. Do you remember that?" Emmett couldn't help it. He felt almost greedy with Bay's memories, as if he couldn't get enough of them. He couldn't resist hoping upon hope that she remembered their first kiss. That- _that_ would be amazing.

Bay shook her head, looking a little worn out. "No, I'm sorry, I don't. Why, was it something important?"

Emmett felt his feelings of hope take another swoop downwards, but the fact that she had remembered some stuff, even some of their first dance together, made it easier. "That's for another time," he said. "Let me take you home."

After he dropped Bay off at home, he went back to his house, came in the door, and flopped down on the couch. He felt like he had gotten so close, like she had gotten so close, like _they'd_ gotten so close to having her memory back, but then it ran away.

_Looks like I'll have to continue being the one who remembers_, he thought morosely.

He stared up at the ceiling, remembering other times from when they were together, the memories so clear he could almost see them on the ceiling, like a movie playing on a TV.

_It was one of those chilly days that come along when nobody expects it, so most people are walking around freezing, wishing they had a sweater with them. _

_He had picked Bay up from school and they had decided to go to the park straight from Buckner, despite the weather. When he questioned her about the temperature outside, Bay said, "You know what they say, mind over matter! I'll think warm thoughts. Don't worry, I'll be fine." _

_He gave in, but made sure she knew that if she got cold, he would take her home. Neither of them wanted to get sick, but at least he had his jacket with him. Most people don't realize how cold it gets when you're riding a motorcycle; the wind feels like it's blowing right through you! So Emmett had his jacket with him that day, thankfully._

_When they arrived at the park, they decided it was too chilly to just sit, so they walked around, hoping to warm up a bit that way. At some point, their hands intertwined, neither of them quite sure who had initiated it. They walked silently until Emmett felt a slight shudder go through Bay. _

_He looked at her, his gaze sharp. "Are you cold?" _

"_I'll be fine," she dismissed him. _

_Her argument would've been a little more convincing if he hadn't seen her shiver a little right after she told him that. He immediately took off his jacket and placed it around her. She reflexively drew the jacket closer to her, and then looked sheepishly at him when she realized what she'd just done. He smirked at her, silently victorious. _

_They continued walking, not really paying attention to anyone else who was walking around then, until a few seconds later, he felt the vibrations of Bay's laughter. _

_He looked at her questioningly. She signed, still shaking with laughter, "I'll tell you in a little bit." _

_They decided to go back home shortly after that, so they headed back to his bike. Before they got on, Emmett asked her what had been so funny._

_Bay started to laugh again, her hands shaking as she told him. "There was an elderly couple walking behind us for a while back there. Soon after you gave me your jacket, the lady said to the man, "See, Ernie? Most boys these days only give a girl their jacket when they're hoping to get in their pants. But, that couple is different. You know how I know that, Ernie?" Ernie grunted and his wife continued, "Because they're holding hands. That's how I know. That's a sign that they'll last." Bay stopped, and then continued thoughtfully. "I think Ernie grunted again. I'm actually not sure that he could talk, which is possibly how they're still married." _

_Emmett, after hearing the story, joined in with her laughter, handing her his spare helmet. Then they mounted his motorcycle, her arms went around him, and they sped off into the distance. _

Emmett smiled nostalgically, remembering the story. Back then, he and Bay had laughed at the lady's perspective. But now, Emmett couldn't help but hope that the lady was right and they would last…that he and Bay could go back to holding hands and being a couple.

A.N. Hey, everyone! Sorry this isn't so long, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! Bay is starting to remember, little by little, so I think soon she'll remember everything…we have to see what happens before that comes about. There'll probably be some Ty interaction before she remembers. Please review and let me know what you think!


	10. Chapter 10

A.N. Hi, readers! So, it's a little sad for me because I was getting around 20 reviews for the first few chapters of this story, and now I'm getting less than 10…it's kind of a bummer, but I suppose that's the way things are! I hope it's not because people are disappointed in the storyline or in my writing! Anyway, a huge thank you to those of you who take the time to review; I really appreciate it!

_Emmett smiled nostalgically, remembering the story. Back then, he and Bay had laughed at the lady's perspective. But now, Emmett couldn't help but hope that the lady was right and they would last…that he and Bay could go back to holding hands and being a couple._

Over the course of the next week, Bay was slowly remembering more and more. She'd remember random things like the types of cake they had at her and Daphne's joined birthday party, and what she was wearing when Daphne first found out she was dating Emmett.

On Wednesday, it seemed like Emmett's dreams were becoming more and more within reach. Bay texted him in the middle of the day (he snuck a peek at his phone during English). She wanted him to come and see her right after school because she really needed to talk to him. That in itself made Emmett really happy. The fact that Bay was texting him to tell him she wanted to talk to him was major progress. It meant that she trusted him and viewed him as a confidante, something which he had been working hard towards.

Things got even better when he finally visited her. She was chilling in her room, when he knocked and then walked in.

She beamed at him, and he beamed right back…simply because she was beaming at him.

"Hey," she signed. She was almost at the signing level she'd been at before the accident. It was rather impressive.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked.

"I broke up with Ty," she told him, her eyes searching his face for his reaction.

Emmett felt his eyes almost pop out of his head. "You broke up with _Ty_?" he repeated dumbly. "Why?"

"When I woke up from my coma, I remembered Ty and my feelings for him. It was something I knew in a world where all of a sudden, I knew nothing." She paused for a minute, wiping her sweaty palms off on her bedspread. "But as things became clearer and I became more settled, I realized that the feelings I thought I had for Ty weren't really there anymore. They were more of a crutch."

_Thank you, thank you, thank you_, Emmett thought. "So what now?" he wanted to know.

Emmett noticed Bay's eyes dart to one side, then the other. She was avoiding his gaze. _Maybe,_ he dared to think, _maybe she has redeveloped feelings for me, but is too shy to ask me out or to ask me about my feelings. _A small smile appeared on Emmett's face. _Ask me, ask me._

Finally, Bay looked at him again, but only for a moment. Then her gaze redirected to somewhere past his left shoulder.

"Do you think it's too soon for me to move on?" she finally asked, her gaze darting back to him and then away, almost afraid of his answer.

Emmett willed his fingers to behave and not to appear overwhelmingly excited. "No, not at all," he managed to sign as nonchalantly as possible.

"But what if people think I'm moving on too fast or something?"

"Who cares what other people think? Let them think what they want. What's important is what you think and how _you_ feel."

Bay paused to ponder that for a few moments. Then she looked back at Emmett again, a question in her gaze.

"Do you remember on Monday, when we met up with Jared, Jackson, & Janet?"

Emmett smiled. "Yeah, you asked me why all my friends' names start with J."

"Yeah, that's still weird," Bay clarified. "Anyway, do you remember when you went to go get us some drinks from Mount Smoothie?"

Emmett thought back to that day. It was actually a surprisingly good day.

_When he and Bay had gotten together, they initially kept their relationship on the DL. After the first month, though, when basically everyone had been told, his friends demanded to meet Bay. _

"_C'mon, man, why are you hiding her away?" Jared asked him one day. "Are you scared she'll meet me and fall in love with my good looks and charm?" _

_Emmett pointedly looked Jared up and down and then stated, "No." _

_The truth was, most girls actually found Jared very attractive. He had dark hair, bright green eyes, was pretty muscular, had an easy smile, and was around 5'11". Jared was probably the one in the group who had the most experience with hearing girls coming on to him, realizing he was deaf, and then walking away. It could be pretty demeaning after a while of that happening, but Jared mostly took it in stride. _

_Emmett, however, had absolutely no compunction whatsoever that Bay would like Jared. Their relationship was as rock solid as it could get at their age, so that wasn't the problem. Emmett was just a little hesitant about bringing his hearing girlfriend to meet his deaf friends. Yes, Bay's signing was getting better and better, and she could understand most of what he said, even when he signed fast, but she was still slower than him and Daphne, and he didn't want anyone to be uncomfortable. What if his friends started to make jokes about her signing or looked down on her ASL skills? It would just put him in such an awkward position because he didn't want to lose his friends and he certainly wasn't going to lose Bay._

_Janet, the only girl in the group and Jackson's on-again, off-again girlfriend, was able to surmise what his hesitations were. _

"_We'll be nice, Emmett. We promise, don't we, boys?" and she gave Jackson and Jared a threatening look._

"_Of course," Jackson wilted under that gaze._

"_Am I ever not nice?" Jared asked, innocently. _

"_Oh, shut up," Emmett signed, but agreed to bring Bay to meet them. _

_The meeting (which sounded really formal, but was actually not) was better than Emmett could've imagined. Bay's quick wit and determination to get along with his friends won their approval after the first 20 minutes. From then on, the gang had gotten together as least once a week to do something together, whether it be hanging out at the mall, going out to eat, or bike riding. _

_The first time that Bay had re-met his friends was this past Monday. The J's (as Bay had liked to call them pre-accident) had demanded to see their friend again, even if it was in a slightly different capacity than every other time (as in, she wasn't his girlfriend now because, well, she couldn't remember that). When he suggested to Bay that they meet up with a few of his deaf friends, she seemed hesitant. _

"_What if I can't sign fast enough or don't understand what they're signing?" she asked, unsure of herself and her skills._

"_Don't worry. They know about your accident and memory loss. They'll be understanding; they're your friends!" _

_She still looked apprehensive, but agreed. "Ok, if you're sure." _

_He smiled reassuringly. "You'll be fine." _

_They met up with the gang in the center of the mall, where several benches were situated. Janet, Jackson, and Jared were very respectful of the situation and tried not to be overwhelming when greeting Bay. _

_Things became a bit more natural after a little while, and soon they were all chatting together like before (almost…because in the past, Emmett's hand was in Bay's hand or his arm was around her shoulders or some form of touching between the two was going on…but not now). _

"_Hey, Bay, want anything to drink from Mount Smoothie?" Emmett stood up, about to go with Janet and Jackson to get drinks. _

"_Um, sure. I'll have a strawberry-kiwi smoothie. Thanks." She smiled at him before turning back to her conversation with Jared. _

_He wasn't sure what they were discussing because he had been involved in a conversation with Janet and Jackson, but whenever he look at her to make sure she was ok, she looked content, and that made Emmett happy. _

_When he and the other couple returned with the drinks, Bay was laughing at something Jared had told her, a slight flush in her cheeks. When asked what was so funny, Jared innocently said that he had told Bay a story from when Emmett was younger. He refused to say any more than that, though, no matter how intense Emmett's faux-glare was. Bay was still laughing too hard to tell, anyway._

_After Bay and Emmett left the mall, Emmett drove her home. As she got off his motorcycle, she said, "I had fun today. Thanks for bringing me!"_

"_My pleasure," he grinned. "I'm glad you enjoyed." _

_She was about to head inside, but turned around before reaching the door. She squinted at him a little, tilted her head to the side, and asked, "Have I ever asked you why all of your friends' names start with J?"_

_Emmett laughed. "Yes, you have." _

_A grin broke out on her face. "K, cuz it's kind of weird." _

_Shaking his head, still laughing, Emmett put his helmet back on. "Good night, Bay." _

"_Good night," she said and went inside. _

"Yeah, Janet and Jackson and I went. What about it? You wanna go out for another kiwi-strawberry smoothie?" Emmett asked. He was determined that that was going to be as close as he got to asking Bay out. She was going to have to take the initiative here.

Bay looked uncomfortable again. "Jared and I were talking and he was telling me all these funny stories about you-"

Emmett interrupted her. "Yeah, what stories did he tell you exactly?"

Bay laughed a little and then said, "Not the point here, Emmett. Anyway, when he and I were talking, I felt like we really connected. I was wondering if you thought it'd be weird for me to ask him out." Bay looked at him for his thoughts on the matter.

At that point in time, Emmett didn't have any thoughts. His mind had suddenly gone blank. All he could see was Bay signing, "me to ask him out…me to ask him out…me to ask him out."

It was like a never-ending nightmare. How had his life gotten so screwed up? Did he do something so terribly wrong that he deserved this?

He managed to distractedly sign something like, "I don't know" before he looked at his phone, pretended he got a message from his mom, and told Bay he had to leave. He ran out of her room, bumped into Daphne on the way out but didn't even stop to apologize, brushing her off when she tried to ask him what was wrong, hopped on his bike, and zoomed off, paying no attention to the speed limit. Thankfully, he didn't get pulled over on his way home.

When he arrived home, he opened the door angrily, then slammed it closed, stalking past his mother, and slamming the door to his room closed.

Anger, that's what he was feeling. Anger. And disappointment. And hurt. And pain. And rejected. And more anger. He was just so angry. He was so angry that Bay didn't remember their relationship. He was angry at Bay for looking everywhere but right in front of her, at _him_, for that connection that only he and she could share. He was angry at Jared for being so friendly to Bay that she thought she was developing feelings for him. He was angry at the woman who had knocked Bay down with her car, changing his girlfriend into someone who didn't even know him. He was _angry_ and he felt like if he didn't give his anger an outlet right _now_, he'd explode. Emmett looked at the picture of him and Bay on his desk, his favorite picture of the two of them, and felt the anger pulsing inside him, throbbing and festering like an open sore. He looked at that picture and punched the wall right behind it, causing the plaster to break a little, and the skin on his fingers to break a lot.

He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder and he whirled around, furious and now hurting inside and outside. He saw his mother's loving gaze and finally, something broke inside of him. Tears started leaking out of his eyes, traveling down his face leaving sticky wet trails. All of the anger and disappointment and hurt he felt came out, as he bent down, leaning on his mother's shoulder, his heart feeling like it was physically breaking. His mother rubbed soothing circles on his back for a few moments, and even though it wasn't exactly the pinnacle of manliness, it comforted him a little.

He finally looked up, stepping away a bit, so his mother could see his signs. "She broke up with Ty and wants to move on with a deaf guy who's not me," he told her, and felt his heart break all over again.

A.N. Ok, I know this isn't exactly like what I said this chapter would probably be like..and I know I said that Bay would remember by now, but I got this idea in my head, and well, I decided to pursue it. I thought it'd be interesting to see a) Bay feel connected to a deaf guy other than Emmett and b) to see Emmett finally break, but as in character as possible. Like, I purposely didn't make him too emotional throughout this story because that doesn't seem to fit his character very well in the show, but everyone has a breaking point. I thought this might be his. I'm sorry for those of you who were counting on me to have them get back together in this chapter…however, I already know how they're going to get back together, and I think you readers will really like it! The only question is when it'll happen. I'm hesitant to say that it'll be next chapter because, well, clearly that didn't exactly happen the last time I hinted at something like that. But, the truth is, I really _want_ it to be next chapter, so there's a decent chance of that occurring, unless I get some other idea to pursue or whatever. Anyway, please let me know what you think! Reviews are always VERY MUCH appreciated! Hope you enjoyed! Wow, this was a long A.N. Wonder how many of you actually read it.


	11. Chapter 11

A.N. Well, readers (whoever's left and hasn't given up on me because I haven't updated in a week), it's a good thing I didn't promise that I'd update soon in my last chapter (and trust me, I just checked to make sure) because it's been a while! I'm really sorry about that, but I got sick last week and wasn't in the mood to write. So here's the next chapter and I hope it's good and worth the wait!

_He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder and he whirled around, furious and now hurting inside and outside. He saw his mother's loving gaze and finally, something broke inside of him. Tears started leaking out of his eyes, traveling down his face leaving sticky wet trails. All of the anger and disappointment and hurt he felt came out, as he bent down, leaning on his mother's shoulder, his heart feeling like it was physically breaking. His mother rubbed soothing circles on his back for a few moments, and even though it wasn't exactly the pinnacle of manliness, it comforted him a little._

_He finally looked up, stepping away a bit, so his mother could see his signs. "She broke up with Ty and wants to move on with a deaf guy who's not me," he told her, and felt his heart break all over again._

Emmett's night was filled with tossing and turning. You know that feeling when it's so hot and you're lying in bed and trying to find a comfortable cool spot? So, multiply that by ten thousand, and that's a little like what Emmett felt. Except, he wasn't trying to find a cool spot, but rather trying to find a space in his mind that wasn't occupied with heartbreak and dejection. Yeah, it sounded dramatic, but when your girlfriend who doesn't remember that she's your girlfriend and who broke up with her boyfriend who wasn't really her boyfriend decides to date your close friend who's also deaf instead of turning to the love of her life, namely you (darn, his life was complicated!)? Yeah, sounding dramatic isn't exactly on the top of your worry list.

He just couldn't figure out what to say to Bay. She was sure to text him tomorrow, asking him about going out with Jared again, and he couldn't figure out what to say. The answers, "Not in this lifetime" and "Do it and I'll punch his face in" immediately came to mind, but he couldn't exactly say those to Bay without her asking him why he was responding so strongly. And, for some reason, he decided that "How clueless can you get? Because I'm your boyfriend so stop asking out other guys!" wasn't the right response either, no matter how much he would've loved to say that to her.

Emmett just couldn't muster up the courage to tell her, "Yeah, sure, go for it." After all, that would start a whole new degree of awkwardness because Jared would probably text him and ask him what the heck was going on and why Bay was asking him out and what he was supposed to say. And as much as Emmett wanted to hit Jared and yell at him for making Bay have a crush on him, he knew it wasn't really Jared's fault.

So with these confusing thoughts and nixed responses racing through his mind, Emmett spent the night tossing and turning, pretty much hating his life.

The next morning, Emmett's eyes felt like someone had been throwing sand at his face and he hadn't been smart enough to close his eyes and run away. His mother shot him questioning looks throughout breakfast, but he just shook his head, wordlessly telling her to drop it. She respected his wishes and didn't try to engage him in conversation, but he could feel her looking at him every few seconds.

Emmett went through the motions of school and couldn't have told you what any of his teachers had taught if you had paid him. His mind was bouncing from one dilemma to the other, as if each subject was a trampoline and once he thought about it for a few seconds, it bounced him to the other subject. Bay….Jared…Bay and Jared….Bay…Jared…By the end of school, Emmett wanted to unscrew his head from his the rest of his body, throw it into the garbage, and go pick out a new one. Of course, then, whenever Bay actually remembered him, she wouldn't recognize him, so that'd be another issue. _That's if she ever remembers_, a despairing part of his mind said.

Nevertheless, ignoring his friends' questions and chatting, he got on his bike and headed to Buckner to see Bay. Mind as well face the nightmare, right? When he arrived, he wished he had waited to talk to his friends, or at least to Jared.

Bay walked over to him excitedly when he got there. "Guess what?" she signed, all bouncy.

He couldn't help but smile at her. She got excited about the strangest things sometimes. He remembered when she first found her birth certificate in his garage. He understood why she was excited, but she was practically jumping up and down when she saw her father's name, hugging him in excitement. Then he had been a little taken aback, though not complaining, but he had gotten used to her bouts of excitement…when they had been together, he had often benefited from those exciting times in more ways than one…

He shook his head almost imperceptibly to rid himself of those thoughts, realizing that it'd been a few seconds since she had asked him a question and he hadn't responded yet. "What?"

Her eyes sparkled. "Jared and I are going out tonight!" she told him.

He stared, sure she had mis-signed. Maybe she had meant to say something else?

"What?" he signed, anger showing through. When he saw Bay's surprised look, he forced himself to calm down. "Sorry, what?"

"Well, I texted Jared to see if he wanted to go hang out at the food court tonight, and he said sure, so we're going to meet there at 6! Isn't that awesome?" Bay looked at him, clearly expecting him to join in her excitement.

Emmett's eyes darted left and right, looking for some way out of this situation. His eyes briefly darted down, hoping there was a hole he could jump through…a manhole would do, too. Unfortunately, there were none around, so there went that option.

"Sounds great," he signed half-heartedly.

Bay looked at him again, seeing some deep emotion that she couldn't identify in his eyes. "Is something wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"I just-" Emmett started, then started again, "I just need sleep. Didn't sleep well last night."

"Oh, I'm sorry. That sucks," Bay sympathized, then she brightened up. "Would you mind just dropping me off at home? I need to go figure out what outfit to wear."

"Hop on," he signed tiredly, and drove to the Kennishes'.

His drive from Bay's house to his helped him clear his mind. He'd go to the mall and watch Jared and Bay from a distance. If he thought things were getting too comfortable between the two, he'd interrupt, pretend he'd forgotten they were going to be there, and just join their "get together" (he refused to call it a date in his head).

Emmett kind of wanted the time to go by slowly (so that he wouldn't have to face this unpleasant event) but also wanted it to go by quickly (so that he could just get this over with and hopefully forget about the whole thing), so time went by normally of course. Murphy's law and all that stuff.

He wrote a note to his mother about where he was going and then drove to the mall, unsure what to expect. He got there around 6:10 and headed straight to Bilkten's, the store right across from the food court. He figured he could pretend to browse around the racks there while spying on Bay and Jared. Fortunately, this part of his day went well and that's what he did. He could see Jared and Bay sitting and chatting, occasionally laughing together. It seemed pretty comfortable…although Emmett wasn't too thrilled about the way Bay was looking at Jared, though Jared didn't seem to notice or mind.

When Jared got up to go get some drinks for them, Emmett saw Bay scoot her chair closer to Jared's, and Emmett clenched his fists.

He felt a tap on his back. "Can I help you, sir?" a saleslady asked him, giving him a strange look.

He shook his head vigorously, picked up a shirt off the rack to appease the lady and make her go away, and then quickly looked back at Bay and Jared when the lady finally went to go annoy some other customer.

It was when Emmett saw Bay tuck her hair behind her ear and cast her eyes downward slightly with a smile on her face that Emmett decided he'd had enough. He wasn't entirely sure why it was that move that made him give up on stealth, but it did.

He headed over to their table, feigning surprise when he arrived at the table. "Oh, right, Bay said you two were going to be here tonight!" he greeted the two.

"Hey, man," Jared said, slapping Emmett's hand.

"Hi, Emmett," Bay said. Emmett couldn't read the emotion in her eyes. It didn't look like disappointment or annoyance exactly, but it also didn't look like happiness…Was it _confusion_? Why would she be confused? Now _Emmett_ was feeling confused!

"I was at Bilkten's looking for some shirts," Emmett explained, though nobody had asked.

"Cool," Jared said.

"Okay. Find anything good?" Bay wanted to know.

"Nah…can I talk to you, Jared?" Emmett grabbed Jared's shoulder before he could even respond and dragged him away from the table.

"What's wrong with you, man?" Jared asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"First of all, I wasn't holding you that hard, you wimp," Emmett allowed himself a little smirk, but then it disappeared almost as soon as it came. "Second of all, what the heck do you think you're doing?"

"What are you talking about?" Jared asked, squinting at Emmett, bewildered.

"Why'd you say yes to a date with Bay? Why didn't you text me to ask me about it? What the heck is wrong with you? What kind of friend are you?" Emmett's signs were coming fast and furious, but Jared followed each one.

"What are you talking about?" Jared asked again.

"Oh, come up with something original," Emmett responded snarkily.

"Bay and I aren't on a date. She asked me if I wanted to hang out, so I said yes. Why would I ask you if that's okay with you? We used to do this and you never minded if I was hanging out with Bay without you there!" Jared explained, just as fast.

"Well, Bay thinks it's a date," Emmett defended his accusations.

"Ok, up until a couple of days ago, Bay also thought that she was meant to be with Ty. I didn't see you objecting when she broke up with him," Jared responded, sarcastic as ever. One of the reasons that he and Emmett (and come to think of it, Bay) got along so well was because they were sarcastic; they got each other.

Emmett pulled at his hair in frustration. "Sorry, it's just, what am I going to do?"

Jared patted his shoulder, pityingly. "Maybe it's time to try to confess the truth and your feelings, bro."

Emmett pondered that and decided maybe Jared was right. "I guess. Mind if I steal your date?"

"She's not my date!" Jared insisted, and flicked Emmett's forehead.

Emmett smiled as Jared walked away, seeing him stop at the table where Bay was still waiting, signing to her for a few moments, and then walked away, while Bay turned in the direction of where Emmtt was standing.

_Here goes nothing…or everything_, Emmett thought as he approached Bay.

"Wanna go for a ride?" he asked.

"Sure," Bay smiled at him.

They went to their park and settled down on a bench. Emmett took a few minutes to compose his thoughts and figure out how he was going to go about this, while Bay sat back and relaxed, clueless about what was coming.

When he decided what he was going to say, Emmett tapped her on the hand, then placed his hand on hers. She looked at him curiously.

"Remember when you woke up and you didn't remember me much?" he asked her. She nodded, and he continued. "You just remembered me as Daphne's friend and couldn't figure out why I was there to see you." She nodded again. "I told you that we had gotten close¸ but you didn't remember that, so we got the chance to get close again."

"Right," Bay signed. "Emmett, what's your point?" She couldn't understand why he was retelling history.

"I wasn't completely honest with you then," he confessed.

Bay tilted her head, gazing at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"We weren't just friends. We were together," Emmett signed hesitantly, unsure about her reaction.

"Together?" Bay repeated. "What do you mean together?"

"Like, boyfriend-girlfriend together. This park was "our" park where we used to come and hang out and chat…and make out."

Bay scooted away from him on the bench. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she looked like she was in pain or something. "I don't understand…" She didn't even sign it, just said it, but Emmett understood her anyway.

He started signing again, trying to explain everything before she walked away from him forever. He really hoped she wouldn't do that, but he got the sinking feeling that she was planning on that, though he didn't know why. "You and I got together shortly after finishing our initial search for your father. We kept it hidden from everyone for a while, but after we got more serious, we told everyone and in the end, they were all okay with it. We were really happy together, until Ty came back and messed everything up."

"Ty?" Bay repeated faintly.

"He came back from serving in the army and wanted you back. You told him you were with me, but he still wouldn't give up."

"Army?" Bay repeated. At this point, she wasn't up to much original thought or speech; she seemed to just be repeating everything.

"We argued, he and I argued, he tried to tell you something about me that would make you break up with me, you got mad that I had never told you, ran out, and got hit," Emmett signed, his movements getting faster and more desperate. "When you woke up, you didn't remember us and I had to start all over with you."

Bay's eyes were darting all around now. She stood up. "I can't do this now…this is too much to take in…"

He grabbed her arm, signing "Wait!" but she twisted out of his grasp and continued walking away.

_I can't let her leave me, _Emmett thought desperately, but he seemed frozen in place and his legs refused to move to chase after her.

"Don't leave me, Bay!" he called out loud. He hadn't used his voice much, so his projection wasn't too great, but the silence of nature helped in carrying his voice to Bay.

She turned around slowly, and once she was fully facing him, her mouth agape, he signed desperately, "I love you!"

He looked into those sparkling eyes of hers, eyes that he had looked into a thousand times before, and saw something there that he never imagined he'd be so happy to see. _Recognition._

"It was you," Bay said, staring at him incredulously. "It was you," she repeated, as she walked back to him, plopping down on the bench again. He sat down next to her, waiting for her to continue.

"When I was in a coma, I could actually hear some voices…I remember hearing my Dad and Mom once, maybe Toby, too, though that was unclear. But the voice I remembered hearing, the thing that played over and over and over in my head, was a voice I didn't recognize saying, "Don't leave me, Bay." I couldn't figure out whose voice that way, but it kept replaying in my head. When I woke up and I realized again that nobody I knew spoke like that, I figured that I had misheard or it had been some weird part of the coma that wasn't actually real or whatever." Bay looked at him again, staring into his eyes. "But it was you…I knew that voice was important, and it was you…"

Emmett looked at her, not sure what to say. He saw her lean in close, her eyes gently shutting, and he leaned in, too, his breathing speeding up a bit. When their lips touched, Emmett felt like things were finally right again. Their lips moved against each other gently, yet the feelings that they aroused were definitely not gentle. When they pulled away to breathe, Emmett pulled Bay into a hug. They spent a few moments embracing before Bay pulled away, tears in her eyes.

"I remember," she signed. "I remember."

Emmett didn't think two signs had ever made him feel so happy before.

A.N. Alright, readers! There you go! The long awaited reunion! Don't worry, in the next chapter, we'll have some rehashing of memories, resolving of the Daphne-Emmett thing that caused the accident (in a roundabout way), and more! So, what'd you think? Please let me know! I hope you enjoyed!


	12. Chapter 12

A.N. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry I haven't updated in almost 2 weeks. Things have been very hectic again, especially with a new school year and everything. As it is, there are probably around 52 things I could and _should_ be doing, but I figured it was high time I updated, especially for you guys, devoted readers and reviewers! Thanks so much for the awesome reviews! I really appreciate them!

_Emmett looked at her, not sure what to say. He saw her lean in close, her eyes gently shutting, and he leaned in, too, his breathing speeding up a bit. When their lips touched, Emmett felt like things were finally right again. Their lips moved against each other gently, yet the feelings that they aroused were definitely not gentle. When they pulled away to breathe, Emmett pulled Bay into a hug. They spent a few moments embracing before Bay pulled away, tears in her eyes._

_"I remember," she signed. "I remember."_

_Emmett didn't think two signs had ever made him feel so happy before._

However, Emmett had had his hopes fly sky high and then splatter to the ground too many times in the past several weeks to take anything for granted. "What exactly do you remember?" he signed, wondering if Bay had remembered everything or if she'd just remembered his voice from the coma.

Bay looked at him, shaken. He couldn't really blame her, though, considering everything that had happened. Her hands started moving, hesitantly, as if she was deep in thought. "I remember you and me looking through your garage for anything we could find about my father…"

Emmett was still skeptical. He had already told her about that…what if she was just remembering what he had told her and she'd only just connected his voice to the voice she heard when she was in the coma?

Bay must have read his doubts on his face because she immediately reassured him. "No, I really remember it, not just the way you told me."

"Prove it to me," he pleaded.

She thought for a moment and then smiled. "You are the least scary pirate I have ever seen."

A huge grin covered his face then, and he grabbed her in for another hug, happiness flowing through him. He hadn't told her that he had "dressed up" as a pirate while she was searching, testing her reaction. By remembering that, that meant that she _really_ remembered!

"What else?" he asked, greedy for her to relive their moments.

"I remember how the first time we went to the park, you flopped down on the grass in mock frustration when I kept interrupting our making out with questions," she smiled.

"You think that was "mock" frustration?" he questioned, his eyebrows raised. "That was _definite _frustration, just maybe not an _emotional_ frustration," he told her with a cheeky grin.

She laughed and he laughed with her. It felt so good to laugh with her again…not that they never laughed when she couldn't remember, they did…but this laughter felt purer, more right, more complete. Even when they were spending time together post-coma and having fun, he still felt something was missing…but now it was back and the happiness he felt about it was almost embarrassing.

She laid her head on his shoulder, and they just sat there for twenty minutes, thinking. He was stroking her hair when she suddenly pulled away and sat up straight.

"Emmett, I also remember what happened before my accident," she told him.

He was confused. "That's what we were talking about, right? I know you remember now."

"No, I mean I remember what happened _right before_ my accident," she explained, staring into his eyes.

He gulped. He had momentarily forgotten about that. He was so focused on trying to get Bay to remember, and then his elation at her memories returning, he'd forgotten how they'd gotten into this mess in the first place.

"And, oh my gosh, I can't believe I thought I was still with Ty when I woke up!" Bay exclaimed all of a sudden.

He grinned. "Me, neither."

"But, wait," she said, back to the topic at hand, "we need to talk, Emmett."

"I know," he said, pulling her closer to him, "but can't we just be happy that you got your memory back for now? Can't we discuss that later, or tomorrow, or never?" he finished, a hopeful smile on his face.

She squinted at him, then shook her head. "You know, you are too cute for your own good."

He pulled back, aghast. "Cute? I'm not cute!" he grimaced, waving his hand dismissively at the term. "I'm good-looking! I'm too hot for words!" he finished, modestly.

She laughed at him and then shook her head. "Nah, you're cute," she restated.

"Stop it!" he insisted. "C'mon, say the truth…I'm sexy and all the other girls are jealous of your super-hot boyfriend."

"No," she said, simply. "They think you're cute…like a bunny," she smirked.

His eyes popped and he put a hand against his heart. "Don't say these things to me, Bay! That's not even funny! A bunny? A bunny?" He saw her laughing hard, and then he grabbed for her, but she darted away.

He ran after her, and even though she had gotten a slight head start, his long legs helped him catch up to her soon. He grabbed her and brought her close to him, then gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

"I love you," he signed. It was the second time he'd told her that.

"I love you, too," she signed back, her eyes shining.

Having her say that for the first time was one of the best experiences of his life. He kissed her again and then they headed to the Kennishes'.

Bay dragged him inside by the hand, him stumbling slightly after her. A moment after they had opened the door, Daphne came into the kitchen, heading to the counter to grab an apple. She took one, wiped it off on her shirt, and bit into the fruit. Only then did she look up and see them.

She jumped back, then placed her hand on her heart. "Geez, don't do that!"

Emmett and Bay laughed at her, then apologized.

When Daphne's heart had stopped dancing the mambo, her eyes lit on their enjoined hands. Her mouth dropped open (thankfully she'd swallowed her bite of apple before Emmett and Bay had given her a heart attack), and her eyes opened wide. She pointed at their hands wordlessly for a moment, and then signed furiously, "You remembered?"

Emmett looked down at Bay and smiled affectionately while Bay nodded.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so happy for you!" Daphne squealed aloud, and then gave Bay a big hug. Bay laughed and hugged her back. Daphne pulled back for a moment, then motioned for Emmett to join in the hug. "C'mon, join in! Group hug!"

Emmett put his hands up in front of him and shook his head, indicating his resistance to join in this very girly moment.

"Aw, c'mon, Emmett…" Bay pleaded, and beckoned him closer. Unable to resist, he joined in, patted Daphne's and Bay's back for 3 seconds, and then backed away again.

"You may never tell Toby, Wilke, Jared, Jackson, or anyone I know about this, do you understand?" He looked sternly at Daphne and then at Bay, pointing at each of them in turn.

"Yeah, yeah," Bay said, dismissively.

Daphne laughed at that. "See, this is why Bay is so good for you," she said to Emmett. "She's not scared of you."

He took a step back. "What is this, diss Emmett day?" he asked, exasperated.

Daphne and Bay then both laughed at him. Bay came close to him again, lifting her face up to hers, presumably to kiss him.

Just when Emmett started to lean down to kiss her, Bay grabbed his face in between her hands, squished his cheeks, and said, "Who could be scared of this face? It's just too _cute_."

Emmett took two steps back and then said, "That's it; I'm out of here!"

Bay and Daphne laughed at him again, but Bay grabbed his hand and apologized. "I'm sorry. Don't leave yet. We still need to talk." She looked at him pointedly.

Daphne, meanwhile, not knowing what was going on all of a sudden, was looking between the two of them like it was a tennis match.

"I know," Emmett told Bay, softening. "But I really do need to be getting home. It's already 10:05, and I told my mom I'd come home by 10:15." When he saw the disappointed look on Bay's face, he reassured her. "Don't worry. We _will _talk. I just need to go home now, ok?"

Bay heaved a dramatic sigh and then said, "Alright. Let me walk you out."

Emmett lifted his chin at Daphne as good-bye and she waved back, and then he walked out with Bay.

Before he reached for his helmet, Bay pulled at his arm. "Emmett, we really do need to talk, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know. We will, ok? I'm not going to let anything come between us, certainly not something that happened in the past. I'm not going to run away from this talk, Bay. I promise."

"Okay," she responded, trusting him.

Then he pulled her towards him and kissed her hard. When he pulled away, they were both short of breath.

"No cute bunny can do _that_," he told her.

Then, having had the last word, he put on his helmet, hopped onto his bike, and rode off, leaving Bay gaping slightly at him, his heart feeling freer than it had in ages.

A.N. Alright, people! There you go, that was chapter 12! So, what'd you think? I know they kind of reverted back to regular fairly quickly and that may have not been the most realistic way to go about it, but that's what I decided for this chapter. Sorry to those of you who were disappointed in the quickness of it all. Don't worry, though, they will have a talk about the whole Daphne thing, though. This is also definitely one of my shorter chapters, for which I'm sorry. But I have a lot of stuff to do and decided to keep this one shorter and lighter, rather than continuing. Let me know what you think of the chapter, please! Also, do you think I should continue with the story, developing different plotlines, or should I just add a couple more chapters and finish it off? I'm debating about that and would love to hear what you think/prefer!


	13. Chapter 13

A.N. Whoa, here I am ago, coming in all sheepish because I haven't updated in so long…I'm sorry! Life has been really busy and I really haven't had much time on my hands to update. Truth is, I still don't really have time to update, but I felt bad…so I am. Ok, let's see what this chapter has in store for us…because honestly, I don't know until I start writing…

_Then he pulled her towards him and kissed her hard. When he pulled away, they were both short of breath._

_"No cute bunny can do __**that**__," he told her._

_Then, having had the last word, he put on his helmet, hopped onto his bike, and rode off, leaving Bay gaping slightly at him, his heart feeling freer than it had in ages_.

Three days later, Emmett had seen Bay once, but it was briefly and they hadn't had a chance to sit down and really _talk_. Emmett couldn't honestly say that he was disappointed about that, considering that he wasn't exactly eagerly anticipating the idea of discussing his old crush on Daphne with Bay. But, you know what they say about necessary evil…it had to happen at some point. That point happened to be four days after Bay regained her memory.

It was a Friday afternoon and Emmett came to pick Bay up from school, the first time he'd been able to do it since she regained her memories.

When he saw her approaching him, he smiled and lifted up his chin at her in greeting, briefly squeezing her shoulder before handing her his spare helmet. She put a hand up, indicating that she wanted him to wait. He looked at her, puzzled.

"Is something wrong?" Emmett asked, confused.

"No, nothing's _wrong_…but we still need to talk," she said, and gave him a meaningful look.

His first instinct was _divert! Distract! Procrastinate some more!_ so he did the best he could. "Today? Now? But it's such a beautiful day out! Let's go to the park and hang out there!" he tried, realizing as he was saying it that it probably wasn't going to do much good.

He saw Bay start to shake her head, then stop, pause, and sign, "Ok."

_Uh, what just happened? _Emmett thought. _Don't kick a gift horse in the mouth, buddy; just go with it! She's giving you more time!_

Listening to the latter voice, Emmett motioned for Bay to put on her helmet, swung a leg over his bike, made sure Bay was holding on tight, and sped off to the park.

There's a feeling that very few people get to experience. It's the feeling of riding on a motorcycle, the fresh crisp air surrounding you, blowing at your face, the colors of the trees melding together in your peripheral vision, and your girlfriend hugging you from the back, holding on as you ride down the open road together. Ok, so the road wasn't so open; it was 5 o'clock and there was traffic in some parts of their drive, but it was still nice nonetheless.

When they arrived at the park, Emmett grabbed Bay's hand, swinging it slightly as they walked toward the grassy area. They found a nice tree, sat down, and Emmett started to reach for Bay, ready to encircle her with his arms, as she sat between his legs and he sat with his back against the trunk of the tree. Bay shook her head at him, though, and sat opposite him, facing him. When he looked askance at her, she said, "We need to talk."

His mouth dropped open slightly. "You tricked me!" he claimed.

He saw her laugh, felt her body vibrating. "Not really, I didn't." He raised his eyebrows at her. "C'mon, Emmett, really…you said that you wanted to come here and hang out! I said ok, and now here we are at the park, hanging out." He kept his eyebrows raised, giving her a look that was saying, _Really, Bay? Really? _She didn't back down, though. "I gave in to your part…I just didn't tell you that I planned on still fulfilling my part!" and she finished her argument with a victorious smile.

"Do we really have to do this today, Bay? Can't we do it, like…" he pretended to think, "Never?"

Her smile faded. "C'mon, Emmett. You know we have to talk about this. I get that this was in the past, but the fact that you keep trying to put off this conversation is making me nervous. What are you hiding that you don't want to discuss?" Bay asked.

"Nothing, I swear I'm hiding nothing! I just feel like this is going to be an annoying and not exactly cheerful conversation, and I feel like I just got you back! I mean, you _forgot _that I was your boyfriend! I had to _watch you_ get _back_ together with _Ty_, of all people! I just want to have some more time between us that's carefree and fun, like how it used to be!" Emmett defended himself.

"So, we'll get back to the carefree and fun stuff _after_ we discuss your years-long crush on Daphne!" Bay shot back, her hands moving almost as quickly as his.

He was about to protest again, but figured he might as well just get the conversation over with. Bay had a point; after they had this conversation, then things could get back to normal and it'd be great, right? Nothing more to worry about.

He sighed. "Fine, what do you want to know?"

"How long did you have a crush on Daphne?" Bay promptly asked, as if the question had been waiting to be asked for a long time. Truth was, it kind of was…it was just buried _very_ deep for a while.

"Eight years," he answered.

Bay's eyes got big. "Eight years?" she signed dramatically. "Emmett, you're only 17! You've spent half of your life with a crush on _Daphne?_"

Bay didn't look so happy, Emmett noticed. _Duh, what were you expecting? Tread very carefully, my friend¸_ a voice in his head said, _very carefully_. He listened to it.

"Bay, you have to realize, Daphne was my best friend for most of my life. We were always there for each other. You know what my stance was on hearing-deaf relationships until I met you. I thought there was no way for them to work! Of all the deaf girls I knew, Daphne was the least shallow, most charismatic, funny, and smart." Emmett looked carefully at Bay's face. _Uh-oh, this is not going well…Think fast, Bledsoe, think fast! _Bay was looking at him incredulously.

"And this is supposed to make me feel better…_how?_" Bay asked sarcastically, before Emmett could even start to try to fix where the conversation was headed.

"But then I met _you!_ And you were so different from what I expected hearing girls to be like…you were so different from any girl I knew, even Daphne, and in a good way! You were an artist like me, working with life to portray things beautifully and deeply. Nobody else I knew ever got me in that way! You also have a sarcastic sense of humor, which was attractive to me. It was like you got me and my humor, too, but also had your own spin on things. And you're smart and beautiful and hot… I couldn't help but fall in love with you! And my feelings for you are far deeper than they ever were for Daphne, you have to realize that! You and I get each other in a way that nobody else gets us. _That's_ why we're so amazing together, and _that's_ why I fought so hard to get you to remember. Because no matter how many other friends I had around me during that time, there was still something missing…the one person who got me, who challenged me, who made me appreciate being me. _You_."

After signing so much so quickly and with such heart, Emmett felt exhausted. He looked at Bay. She had tears in her eyes. She stared at him and said, "That was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me." He smiled at her. "I love you, Emmett."

Then, she put her hands on either side of his face, brought him closer, and kissed him with several months worth of pent up passion and feelings. Even though they'd kissed since she'd regained her memory, this was like the kiss of all kisses. All the emotions they felt for each other were packed into this kiss. All of a sudden, she pulled away, blushing.

He looked at her, puzzled. "What?" he asked.

She giggled a bit. "I heard people whistling at us."

He smiled at her. "Let them whistle," he said, and pulled her back into his arms and kissed her again.

A.N. Alright, people, that was the chapter that was a **seriously **long time in coming. I hope you enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you think/thought!


	14. Chapter 14

A.N. And….here I am, back after 3 ½ months of no updates! Sorry about that…Lots going on and stuff. Anyway, I updated the story summary because now that we've kind of resolved the Ty thing, I was thinking about the interest plot twist that Travis (new character in the show) could set into motion. I'm a sucker for angst, so that's why I'm doing this…In the show, I felt like Emmett's jealous plotlines weren't really wrapped up and so I didn't get as much satisfaction out of them.

Btw, for those of you who've forgotten or who haven't really read my other A.N.'s, I don't differentiate between signing/speaking/both using underlines, bold, or whatever. Everything is written in quotation marks with regular font. Well, the thoughts are italicized. Anyway, I give you readers credit and assume that you can figure out who is communicating what through whichever method. Sometimes I'll specify sign, sometimes I'll specify speak aloud. Other times, use your own judgment to figure it out.

Two months had passed since Emmett and Bay's talk about his previous feelings for Daphne. Things were really good between them again…something which Emmett had occasionally doubted would ever happen.

He and Bay were in her room, sitting on the floor with their backs against her bed. They were each studying for different subjects, he for Biology and Bay for English. Despite the temptations that close quarters involved, he and Bay were actually pretty good about getting work done when they studied together like this.

Just as he was thinking this, though, he felt a soft hand cover his hand, which was resting on his knee. A slow grin spread across his face, and he glanced at Bay, who was fastidiously focusing on her English book, a small smile peeking at the corners of her mouth. Emmett's gaze reverted back to his notes for a few moments, until he felt Bay's hand slip off of his hand and start to stroke his knee a bit. His eyebrows shot up, and he glanced at Bay again. This time, however, she couldn't keep a full-fledged smile from breaking out on her face and she returned his gaze when she felt his piercing into her.

"Is this your way of telling me you're in the mood for a break?" Emmett signed, his eyebrows still raised suggestively.

Bay smirked. "Whatever would give you that idea?" she responded, slyly.

Emmett glanced meaningfully down at her still moving hand, then back up at her.

Bay laughed again. "Ok, maybe I _am_ in the mood for a break. What are you going to do about it?"

Emmett pushed aside his biology notes and then grabbed Bay, bringing his mouth to hers. The kiss quickly turned heated and they were so involved in each other, that it took a few moments for Bay to hear someone clearing their throat from her doorway. She quickly pulled away from Emmett, whose gaze followed Bay's to the doorway, and then they both blushed. Kathryn was standing in the door, her hands on her hips.

"Aren't you both supposed to be studying?" she asked, speaking the question aloud but signing at the same time, too, for Emmett's benefit.

"We, uh, were just taking a break," Bay replied, also signing and speaking simultaneously.

Kathryn looked at the both of them skeptically. Emmett gave her a small smile, unsure as to what he should be saying during this exchange.

He saw Kathryn shake her head a little and then start speaking again. "Well, as long as you're "taking a break"" Kathryn said, using air quotes, "Bay, could you please come downstairs for a family meeting? It's really important."

Bay looked at her mother oddly. "A family meeting? What about?"

"We'll discuss it when we're all together," Kathryn said, then she looked at Emmett. "Emmett, you're welcome to come, too, if you want."

Bay looked to him for his response. "Nah," he replied, shaking his head, "I'll just stay here and study meanwhile." Then he looked to Kathryn, "Is it okay if I come and get some food at some point?"

Kathryn melted. "Oh, honey, of course it is. You know you're welcome to take whatever you'd like."

"Thanks," he smiled.

Bay turned to him. "I guess I'm going to a family meeting. Hooray!" she said, sarcastically. "See you in a little bit. Don't get into any trouble in here while I'm gone, okay?"

Emmett gave her his best "Who, me?" look. She bent down and kissed him briefly before walking out of the room.

About 10 minutes later, Emmett got hungry and was bored of studying by himself. Leaving his stuff on Bay's floor, he headed down to the Kennishes' kitchen, opening up their fridge to see what he could find to eat. Biting into an apple, he also grabbed some leftover lasagna that was sitting in a container on the shelf in the fridge.

Not bothering to warm it up, Emmett grabbed a fork and dug into the lasagna. _Man, Kathryn is a good cook_, he thought while inhaling the food. After a few bites, his hunger was slightly sated and he slowed down. Only then did he look up and see that Kathryn, John, Toby, Daphne, and Bay were all gathered in the living room, which was situated off of the kitchen.

There was clearly something very intense being discussed because he could see that Daphne and Bay were arguing with Kathryn & John, their gestures large and emphatic as they signed and spoke.

Emmett grabbed his half-eaten apple off of the counter and bit into it again, placing his now empty plate in the sink and surreptitiously creeping over to where he could better see what was being signed.

His eyes flitted between Bay's and Daphne's signs.

"-that woman-" Bay was signing, outraged.

"-obnoxious, rude, bad enough just in school or at work-" Daphne was signing, equally outraged.

"-could you do this to me?" (Bay)

"-can't believe this!" (Daphne)

Finally, just as Emmett felt he was almost going cross-eyed from trying to keep figure out what they were talking about and getting so hyped up about, John put a stop to it.

"STOP!" Emmett saw him yell.

"Sit down!" he ordered his daughters.

Emmett decided to make his presence known. He walked over to the couch and placed a hand on Bay's shoulder.

She turned around instantly, still in fighter-mode.

"What's going on?" Emmett asked her, calmly, his normal signs a contrast to the ones being used only moments before.

"My parents are having someone move in with us!" Bay responded, her signs jerky and upset.

Emmett gave her a questioning look. "What?"

"Remember the lady who _backed into me_, causing my accident?" Bay asked, her eyes darting over to glare at her parents. "Well, apparently she had come to ask my parents if they minded having someone deaf move in with us temporarily!"

Emmett was thoroughly confused. "What?"

Daphne interrupted their conversation at that point. "You know Travis from school?" Emmett nodded. "_He's_ the one who's going to be moving in!"

"The guy who's obnoxious to everyone?" Emmett asked, astounded at this news.

Daphne smiled sarcastically. "That's the one!"

Emmett was confused. There had to be more to the story than this, right?

Suddenly, he noticed John waving his hands, trying to get their attention. "Can we please say something now?"

Daphne and Bay reluctantly turned back to their parents.

Kathryn started to talk. "We know this is a bit of a shock-"

Before she could continue, Bay interrupted her. "A bit of a shock? As if our lives aren't complicated enough, you're having someone else move in with us? Per the request of the woman who _ran me over_?" She looked around. "Am I on some crazy TV show called "Let's Screw Up Your Life"? Because it must be getting a LOT of views!"

Kathryn attempted to calm her daughter down. "Ok, honey, we know this is hard, but _please_ let us explain."

Bay folded her arms across her chest, her gaze resentful as she glared at her mother, listening. Emmett stretched his arm around her shoulder, and after a few moments, he felt her relax a little against him.

"Martha Bittern, the lady who came to speak to us about Travis, said that she came to us specifically because we have hearing and deaf people living here. Apparently Travis was born to two hearing parents and his parents never bothered to learn sign. They never even tried to learn a language so that they could communicate with their son!" Kathryn looked at each of the people present in the room, appealing to them. "It came to the attention of some people at Carlton that this was going on, to the point where Travis was almost being neglected, and so, with the permission of his parents, they were trying to find somewhere that he could stay for a little while, even just to give him a taste of a normal home life."

Bay laughed sarcastically. "And you think coming _here_ is going to give him a taste of normal?"

Kathryn and John looked at their daughter sternly. "Yes," John said, "we do. Your mother and I have discussed this at length, and though we put it off after your accident, we decided that now that things are back to normal, we'd like to continue with this plan. No matter what has happened in the past year, Bay, you never doubted that we cared for you."

Bay looked away, unable to refute that.

John looked at Daphne. "And you, Daphne. No matter how crazy the situation was for you, you knew that we love you and you saw that right from the beginning we tried to figure out ways to communicate with you."

Daphne nodded, also unable to refute that.

"Listen, girls…and Toby, you, too," John said, acknowledging his son's presence in the room, though his son hadn't said much. "We understand that this will be a change for all of us. But we're going to try to give Travis a place where he can feel comfortable, even for just a little while, ok?"

Bay, Daphne, and Toby all nodded. "How long is he going to be here?" Daphne asked.

"We don't know, honey," Kathryn responded. "It's dependent on several different things. We'll just have to see and take it day by day, alright?"

Satisfied that this was as good as it was going to get, everyone was allowed to return to their previous activities.

Toby quickly escaped to his garage, while Daphne grabbed a basketball and went to shoot hoops outside…with a lot of force.

Bay grabbed Emmett's hand and practically dragged him up the stairs to her room.

When they got into her room, she closed the door. Emmett thought it safest _not_ to point out that her door was supposed to remain open if he was there.

"Can you believe them?" Bay seethed, gripping his hand tightly.

Emmett gently extracted his hand from hers, preferring to keep all of his bones intact. "It's pretty crazy," he agreed. "I mean, Travis is pretty rude…to everyone. Even at school, he pushes everyone away."

"Oh, great. We're going to have Grumpy living with us. That'll be a party," Bay grumbled.

As the reality of the situation sunk in, Emmett started to process all the different components. "Wait, where's he going to sleep?"

Bay looked at him like he was stupid. "We're not exactly lacking space here, Emmett. He'll probably sleep in one of the three open rooms on this floor." She gave him a "duh" look. "Why?"

Emmett's jealous tendencies started to kick in. "A guy you're not related to is going to be sleeping down the hall?"

"Apparently, yeah," Bay responded, still too annoyed to understand what Emmett was getting at.

"Great," Emmett retorted. "Another guy is going to be entering your life. As if Ty still hanging around town isn't enough."

Bay finally started to understand, and she wasn't too happy. "Seriously, you're going to get jealous now?" She rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Emmett, Ty is barely around anymore, and from what you and Daphne say about this guy, he's so obnoxious I'm not going to _want _ to even see him!"

Although her statement about Ty didn't reassure Emmett too much, what she said about Travis made sense. The guy _was _clearly a jerk. It wasn't like he was going to be any trouble; he'd probably just clash with Bay and they'd avoid each other whenever possible.

Feeling slightly better, Emmett asked Bay if she wanted to continue studying. She declined, saying she was too distracted, and shortly after, Emmett went home.

Two days later, Emmett was lying in bed at night when his phone vibrated. He saw it was a text from Bay.

"U were right. He IS a jerk," the text said. Emmett smiled slightly and placed his phone back on his nightstand.

Three days later, Thursday, Emmett saw Daphne as he was heading into school.

"So?" he asked.

She gave him a weird look. "So, what?" she asked right back.

"So, what happened with Travis?" He was impatient to hear.

"He moved in yesterday, which you seem to know. I don't know what else you want to know."

"What happened when he moved in? How was it? How was it when he met everyone?" Emmett wanted to know.

"He was okay, I guess. Less rude than usual, but still pretty rude." Daphne started to smile. "You should've seen it when he was moving his stuff into his room and he bumped into Bay in the hall. John and Kathryn were already downstairs, and it was just me, Bay, and him in the hall upstairs. When he bumped into Bay, he gave her an annoyed look as if it was her fault, and she totally blew up at him!" Daphne started to laugh. "Bay started to yell that she didn't want him there, and that he could go jump in a lake for all she cared, but that if he was going to be living in the same house as her, then he'd better stop being such a jerk because she wasn't going to take it!"

Emmett started to laugh along with Daphne. He could totally picture Bay getting riled up and saying those things.

"How'd Travis react to that?" Emmett questioned.

Daphne shifted her knapsack strap a little, preventing it from sliding off her shoulder. "He started to yell back a little, until he saw Bay glaring at him." Daphne laughed again. "I now understand the expression 'if looks could kill.' I thought Bay was going to stare a hole through him. He kind of just huffed and backed off, then."

Emmett grinned. "That's my girl," he said, and slung an arm over Daphne's shoulder in a friendly gesture, heading off with her to class.

Over the next week, whenever Emmett couldn't see Bay, he was receiving texts from her about how annoying Travis was and how horrible he was. When Emmett did get together with her, she'd tell him in person, always equipped with some anecdote or three about how Travis was rude to her or to Kathryn or John or Daphne.

To be honest, Emmett felt better about the fact that Bay seemed to dislike Travis so much. After all he'd been through with Bay over the past several months, he wasn't in the mood for anyone to interfere with their relationship again.

One Friday evening, he and Bay decided to take a detour to "their" park instead of going straight home. It was hard to go to the park at night because if there was no light, it made it hard to see each others' hands when signing; therefore, their park dates were really just over weekends or in the evenings, before it turned dark.

They sat on a blanket, munching on crackers while discussing their days. As Bay was discussing a piece she had to do for an art class, her eyes lit up, her passion for art evident. There was very little that was more attractive to Emmett than Bay when she was passionate about something…of course, he liked it better when she was being passionate about him- or with him- but still…

"…and she told us that we have to do an interpretation of something very meaningful to us. I'm actually really excited about it!" Bay was saying.

Emmett moved closer to her. "Do you know what you're going to do it on yet?"

She tilted her head in thought. "I'm not sure, but I have a few ideas."

"Care to share them?" he asked her.

She gave him a sly look. "No, you're going to have to wait, just like everyone else."

He pretended to pout. "But," she said, "I'll tell you something that I wouldn't tell anyone else…"

He recognized the look in her eyes and grinned. "Oh, yeah? What's that?"

Bay straddled him. "I love you," she signed sweetly, and then proceeded to kiss him in a very unsweet manner. Not that he was complaining.

When he dropped Bay off an hour later, they tentatively made plans to go out later that night for pizza.

"See you at eight?" she clarified while unbuckling the helmet and removing it from her head.

He nodded and smiled at her when she shook her hair, trying to get it to sit normally.

She gave him a long kiss good bye, walked toward her garage, and he sped off.

When Bay got to her garage, she dropped her bag on the floor and walked to her paints. She picked up a paint palate, but a paintbrush was balancing precariously on it and dropped off. Fortunately, Bay jumped back quickly enough and no paint got on her clothes.

Remembering that she should change before she got paint on her Buckner uniform, Bay grabbed her knapsack and headed into the house. She was feeling cheerful and happy from her trip to the park with Emmett and was humming under her breath as she bounded up the steps to her room.

As she rounded the corner, she bumped into Travis.

"Seriously?" he signed, annoyed. "Don't you ever watch where you're going?"

Well, there went her good mood. "Why is it _my_ fault? Why don't _you _watch where _you're_ going?" she responded, just as annoyed in her signs.

He gave her a disgusted look. "You think that just because you grew up with money and in this big house that you're so untouchable, right? It's never _your_ fault; it must be _other_ people's fault!"

She was shocked at his audacity. "What are you even talking about? You don't know me at all!"

"Yeah, well, you don't know me!" he retorted. "Doesn't stop you from judging me!"

Bay was about to respond, but then realized he had a point. She took a few deep breaths, determined to calm down. "You're right."

Travis looked taken aback, like nobody had ever said that to him.

"Can I ask you a question?" Bay asked, tilting her head in thought, her hair loosely falling down over her shoulders. She stepped closer to him.

Travis nodded suspiciously.

"Why are you so angry all the time?" Bay asked.

She saw color rise in his face, and before he could respond, she hastened to add, "I mean, nobody's better at being angry at the world than me, but still…you take it to another level! Don't you-" she stopped, unsure whether to go on.

Travis gestured at her. "Don't I what?"

"Don't you have any outlet for your anger?" she finished, then stepped back, as if she wasn't sure how he was going to respond.

"No," he replied shortly.

"Why not?" she asked.

"What do you mean 'why not'?" he questioned her.

"Why don't you have any outlet for your anger? Isn't there anything you ever do just to let out all of those emotions?"

Travis started to get annoyed again. "Listen, my parents aren't like John and Kathryn or Regina. They didn't learn another language so they could communicate with their child. My mother made up a few signs of her own so that she could tell me when it was time to eat, time to clean up my room, or things like that, but otherwise, that was about it. My only outlet was video games, where I got to shoot at things. Nobody was there encouraging me to get involved in a hobby, okay?"

Bay felt herself begin to gain a new appreciation for Travis. Her life may not have been all roses and lilacs and frolicking among the daisies, but at least she knew her parents cared about her and were there to support her and encourage her. She remembered her father saying something along these lines when it was first announced that Travis was going to be living with them, but she hadn't really processed or understood the full meaning of what he had said. Now she was starting to, and she was beginning to realize that maybe there was more to Travis than just the irritable jerk she had previously thought him to be.

"Are you doing anything right now?" Bay asked him, impulsively.

He looked at her weirdly. "I was just about to go get something to eat, but otherwise, no. Why?"

"Ok, you go eat something. I'll meet you in the kitchen in five minutes, okay?" Bay said.

"Ok," he said, suspiciously.

Six minutes later, Bay and Travis were in Bay's garage. Travis had never been in the garage before, and he was gazing around in wonder at all the different art lying around the space.

Bay unrolled a large piece of paper and stretched it across one wall of the garage. She had changed into a short jean skirt and a grey off-the-shoulder tee. Travis gave her an appreciative glance.

She made sure he was looking at her before explaining to him what they were doing there. "Look, I've had lots of times in my life that I've been angry."

She held up a hand when she saw him open his mouth. "And before you say something snarky about what could I possibly have to be angry about, let me just tell you…plenty, ok?"

Travis closed his mouth, smirking a little.

"Anyway," Bay continued. "Whenever I felt too angry to focus on anything, I'd come out here and paint. Sometimes I'd paint a picture, sometimes I'd paint a wall, and sometimes," Bay picked up a paintbrush, and dipped it in red paint, "I'd do this." She flung the paintbrush from over her shoulder in the direction of the paper, while still maintaining a grip on the brush. Red paint splattered on the paper.

"Now you try," she said to Travis, handing him a paintbrush.

"Are you crazy?" he asked her, stepping away.

"C'mon, what are you, afraid?" she mocked him. "I promise you, it helps."

Well, Travis wasn't going to stand being called a coward for something as menial as this, so he grabbed the paintbrush, dipped it into black paint, and flung the paint in the direction of the paper. _Wow, that does feel good_, he thought, and aimed a grin in Bay's direction. She caught his eye and they both grinned at each other briefly before continuing with their splattering.

They continued to do this for two hours, the time flying by as they got involved in the activity, paint splattering not only on the paper, but also on the floor and on their clothes.

At one point, Travis looked at Bay, her eyes alight with the excitement of painting, her dark hair tied up in a high pony tail, her clothes splattered with multiple colors, and a splotch of purple paint right above her lip. He started to laugh, and she turned to him, wondering what he was laughing at.

He pointed at her, gesturing toward her face, and kept on laughing.

"What, here?" she asked, swiping at her lip, but that only made it worse. He kept on laughing and after a moment or two, she joined in, saying, "Ah, forget it. I'll get it later."

They resumed their paint splattering, but this time, Travis kept curious darting glances in Bay's direction. _She's so different than what I initially pegged her to be,_ he thought. _And she's so beautiful. _He watched her slinging paint some more, pausing to stare. _She's also the only person who's taken the time to try to get to know me. _

He pondered this some more, but resumed his paintbrush activity, laughing with Bay and glancing at her every 20 seconds or so.

Emmett left his house at a quarter to eight, figuring he'd swing by the Kennish house, Bay would run out, hop on his bike, and they'd be off to Paul's Pizza Place.

When he pulled up to the house, though, Bay didn't run out, which was kind of atypical. Usually when they had a date, she was ready to go right when he pulled up. He swung his leg over his bike, getting off, and headed toward the house. Before he got to the door, though, he saw out of the corner of his eye that there was a light on in Bay's garage.

_Maybe she's in there, waiting for me,_ he thought, and headed over to see.

He knocked softly first and walked into the garage. He couldn't believe what he saw and had to shake his head and close his eyes briefly, certain that he was imagining things.

For there, in front of his eyes, was Bay flinging paint at a large canvas with _Travis_. Not only that, but they were clearly having a good time, Bay's face alight with laughter. Emmett clenched his jaw.

What he observed next, though, made him clench his fists, holding them tightly against his side. Standing not two feet away from Bay, Travis was flinging paint while darting glances at her every few seconds. Emmett had never seen the guy's face so happy before, but at this moment, he couldn't have cared less. What he saw was Travis looking at Bay in the way that only _Emmett_ should be looking at her.

Emmett's heart sunk. _Travis was into Bay…and he lived right down the hall from her. _

Here we go again….

A.N. And….jealous Emmett has reappeared! (Did he ever truly leave? Eh, not really for so long.) I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review and let me know what you thought about the premise, the scenes, etc. Btw, this is the longest chapter I've ever written…what do you think of it?


	15. Chapter 15

A.N. Hi, readers! Ok, so even though I have three million things to do that are way more important than this, I figured I'd take some time and write another chapter for this story, especially in light of what happened on SAB this week. I, too, was super disappointed in Emmett's actions, but I'm still supportive of his relationship with Bay. Don't get me wrong; I do not support cheating in any way, but especially with the different things he was going through…I can cut him a LITTLE slack. Really what I wanna see is Emmett essentially grovel for Bay's attention, forgiveness, love, etc. I think it's because Emmett is always that I'm-going-to-put-on-this-façade-of-being-macho-and-in-control person, and I really want to see him have to make himself vulnerable to beg for Bay's forgiveness. Guess we'll see what happens this week, next week, and during the last 10 episodes! I'm thinking about inserting the Simone-Emmett thing into this story, but I wanna know what you think, readers…

Oh, and the reason that I've taken the Travis-Bay route is because I'm kind of fascinated by Travis as a character, and I could actually picture something happening between him and Bay, if I weren't such an avid Bay/Emmett supporter. You'll understand more of my perspective with the next couple of chapters. Thank you **confusednikki24-7, Madi, Paper Angels, kittenamos, SamWlover, xRainbowNinjax, Akward Alex, **and** DancingintheRayne **for your reviews. I do know that not all parents of deaf children sign, Akward Alex, but I did not think that the percentage of those who do not was that high; did you get that based on a study? If so, could you tell me which one? I'd be interested to know. Also, while not all speech therapists or doctors will recommend learning ASL, I don't think that MOST won't. As a matter of fact, speech therapists recommend learning ASL for many hearing children who have trouble learning to speak, as a way of facilitating their language expression. Just thought I'd insert that in there.

And now, after this LOOOOONNGGG A.N., here we go…

_What he observed next, though, made him clench his fists, holding them tightly against his side. Standing not two feet away from Bay, Travis was flinging paint while darting glances at her every few seconds. Emmett had never seen the guy's face so happy before, but at this moment, he couldn't have cared less. What he saw was Travis looking at Bay in the way that only Emmett should be looking at her._

_Emmett's heart sunk. Travis was into Bay…and he lived right down the hall from her. _

_Here we go again…._

Or not. Because while Emmett Bledsoe may be lots of things, he was certainly _not_ stupid. Emmett was smart enough to realize that when he had shown his jealous side before, Bay hadn't been a huge fan of it. Therefore, showing his jealousies of Travis to Bay? Yeah, not the best idea. That's why Emmett decided to walk over and tap Bay on the shoulder, making his presence known to her (and Travis).

"Emmett, hi!" Bay exclaimed, turning to him in response to his touch. He leaned down and kissed her. Ok, so just because he wasn't going to be blatant about his jealousy doesn't mean that he couldn't show Travis who Bay was with, alright? _One point to me for passive aggression. _

"Oh my goodness!" Bay continued, glancing down at her watch. "I didn't realize it was so late! Sorry," she apologized to him.

He shook his head, brushing off her apology. "It's fine. You ready to go?" he teased. He looked her meaningfully up and down. While the pizza place wasn't exactly a fancy dinner, she couldn't exactly go in the clothes she was currently wearing. Her shirt, jeans, and shoes were all splattered with paint, not to mention the paint still on her face.

"Hm, maybe I'll go and change," Bay grinned. Emmett lifted his hand up to her face, brushing his thumb over the paint she had right above her top lip. Her eyes, bright with laughter, connected with his, and he slowly lowered his lips to hers again. It was a gentle but thorough kiss, one they both felt. It was a kiss that anyone observing them would see the emotion they felt for each other in it. (And he did.)

When they separated, Bay turned around, gathering up her brushes to wipe them off. She was slightly startled to see Travis still there; she had forgotten he was there.

"Oh, right, uh, Travis. Emmett and I are going out, so I'm just going to go change. Do you want to stay in here and continue?" she signed quickly, feeling bad for making Emmett wait.

"Nah," Travis declined. "Thanks, though. I'll clean up here if you want to go get ready."

Bay beamed at him. "Thanks! See ya later!" She turned to Emmett. "I'll be ready in 10 minutes, ok?"

Emmett nodded, his eyes following her exit from the garage. When she was gone, his eyes snapped back to Travis and he took a few steps closer to the other guy.

"Listen, you may live here temporarily," Emmett signed, his hands moving swiftly. "But _I_ am not here temporarily. I may not live here, but Bay and I are together."

Travis smirked at him. "Back off. I know you're with Bay. What does that have to do with me?"

Emmett's blood started to boil. "Don't play stupid," he snapped. "I came in and saw how you were looking at her. I've already dealt with someone else who used to look at her that way, too, ok? And you know what? Bay and I are still together, no matter all the stuff we've been through."

Travis raised his eyebrows at Emmett, skeptically.

Emmett clenched his fists again. "You're deaf, I'm deaf; don't pretend you don't know what I'm saying or what I'm talking about. We're both on a level playing field-or wait," Emmett paused and looked meaningfully at Travis, "we're not, because I'm with Bay and you're not."

Apparently that's what it took to make Travis snap because he instantly responded with, "Yeah, well I live with Bay and you don't. I'm the one who she has dinner with her and runs into her in her pajamas in the morning," and here _Travis _paused for effect, "and at night."

_Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it, _Emmett thought to himself. _Don't punch him, no matter how much you want to…don't punch him…or shove him… don't do it._

Fortunately, Bay arrived then, interrupting them. "Ready now! We going?"

Emmett smiled at her, once again, so grateful that she was his girlfriend. "Let's go," and he put his arm around her shoulders as they left, his eyes darting back haughtily to Travis.

Travis slowly put away the brushes after washing them. Oddly enough, the time he had spent with Bay splattering paint all over had been one of the best times of his life. Pretty pathetic, huh? He barely knows a girl, but the first time he has a real conversation with her and spends some time with her makes it onto the top five moments of his life list.

He looked around at different art on the walls and laid around the space. Even though he'd only been with the Kennishes for a little over a week, he was starting to like it there. He didn't exactly feel at home there, but they all tried to communicate with him and weren't openly hostile. Travis knew that he came across as a jerk, but after growing up the way he did, he was wary of people.

Travis knew that people judged him. They thought he was super obnoxious and a waste of time to try to get to know. He may have been rude, but he wasn't stupid. Growing up in a home where his parents were both hearing and didn't bother to learn how to sign had been more difficult than words could express. He felt so alone all the time…even when he was in school. Although the people in school signed all the time and he could communicate with them, he couldn't help but be jealous of all these people whose families knew how to sign, encouraged their Deaf pride, and supported their method of communication. Thus, Travis was mad and jealous when he was in school, too, and often came across as rude to his peers and other people who tried to interact with him. This also left him nowhere he could feel accepted or at home.

When he came to the Kennishes, he was skeptical about what good it would do for him. After all, they were hearing, too! Ok, so they had some crazy family situation where their biological daughter was deaf and they had to adapt to that, but still…how different could it be from what he was used to? When he finally moved in, though, he realized how different it was. John and Kathryn really tried to learn as much sign as possible, even though John was terrible at it. Toby was also in the process of learning some signs, although maybe he wasn't as into it as John and Kathryn. Regina and Daphne already knew sign, obviously, and Bay? Well, Bay was an entirely different story altogether.

Right from the start, Bay's fire intrigued him. She didn't take his attitude sitting down like others did. She got in his face from the beginning, letting him know that if _she _was expected to be polite, then _he _ should be, too! And if _he_ wasn't going to be polite, then _she_ wasn't either! He might've scorned her, but inside, he actually kind of respected and admired her. Actually, Bay was probably the best signer out of all the Kennishes. Her signs were fluid and quick, except for the rare occasions when she didn't know how to say something.

Today, though, when she'd confronted him about his anger? That was probably the first time in several years that he'd let someone in, even a fraction of a bit. Then, when she'd dragged him to her garage to paint, he'd been doubtful at first, but it really _was _ a lot of fun and a good outlet for emotions.

Of course, he hadn't anticipated it arousing certain _other_ emotions…

Bay and Emmett were sitting at Paul's Pizza Place, enjoying their dinner. Emmett was eating his slice and talking to Bay simultaneously, which Bay was still kind of in awe at. Despite her becoming more and more fluent in ASL, she still hadn't managed to learn how to sign and eat at the same time. Therefore, she left most of the chatting to him and just watched. Whenever she wanted to respond, she'd place down her pizza and sign her response, then pick her pizza back up.

"So why haven't you and I painted anything together yet? You've been featured in my pictures, obviously. Why don't I get to paint anything with you?" Emmett asked, stealing a fry from Bay's plate, dipping it into the ketchup on her plate, and popping it in his mouth, grinning at Bay's faux-upset look.

She put down her pizza and said, "First of all, don't steal my fries! You have your own!"

"Yeah, but I ate all of mine already," Emmett said, still grinning, and stealing another fry. Bay tried to slap his hand but he moved too fast and just smiled triumphantly at her while chewing his second stolen fry.

Bay rolled her eyes at him. "You and I _did_ try to paint together once, remember? It ended up with an awesome billboard, but also you in jail and upset with me. Ringing any bells now?"

"I wasn't upset at you!" Emmett defended himself.

Bay looked at him with a "get-real" look on.

"I wasn't!" he insisted.

"Then why wouldn't you talk to me for 3 days after you got released?" Bay pushed.

"I wasn't really mad at you…I just felt like you wouldn't be able to understand, and I was really mad at hearing people!" he stated.

"Ok, ok. But still, it didn't exactly end in lots of fun and joy for either of us, did it?" Bay pointed out.

"I don't know, you looked pretty joyful when I showed you the billboard," he said.

"True, but after that, it wasn't all fun and games!" Bay insisted, trying to make him see.

Emmett looked at her questioningly. "Do you really not want me to help you paint or do art with you? Just tell me the truth," he said, hurt. Why was Travis allowed to paint with her and he wasn't?

"No, no, no." Bay shook her head. "It's not that I don't want you to help me. C'mon, you know I love spending time with you. And spending time doing art I love with the guy I love? Why wouldn't I want that? I just- after last time, I was a little hesitant."

Emmett smiled. "So you and I are going to work on a project together?" He was honestly excited, although not entirely sure why. Maybe he just wanted to spend time with Bay. Maybe he just wanted to show himself, Bay, and _Travis_ that Travis wasn't the only one who paint with Bay.

Bay looked at him closely, seeing through his casual veneer. "You know that you're one of my biggest inspirations, right?"

Emmett's smile grew bigger and more genuine. He bounced his eyebrows a couple of times and said, "How big?" and leaned across the table.

Bay stood up a little, leaned over too, and met his lips in the middle for a kiss. She pushed him away after a few seconds. "Eh, big enough," she said, and sat back down with a saucy smirk.

Emmett grabbed a few more of her fries in retaliation and threw one at her. "Very funny," but he laughed with her.

Emmett dropped Bay off, lingering for a few minutes with her before he headed home.

He wondered why he had ever thought that hearing-deaf relationships couldn't work; what did he know back then? Ok, so he was judging all hearing people based on the various people he'd encountered out and about in the world, people who pointed at him or stared at him. He hadn't realized that Regina wasn't the only hearing person who was a good person. Back then, he hadn't even imagined that he could be so happy.

And, as he leaned against his bike, Bay leaning against him, his arms encircling her waist, he couldn't remember ever feeling so content or happy. It made him wonder about his parents. Were they ever as happy as he and Bay were? Were they ever as content as he was in this moment with Bay? They couldn't have been, right, because there's no chance that things could've spiraled so much out of control, them fighting constantly and then getting a divorce, if they had felt even half of what he felt with Bay. Thinking of his parents' (non)relationship made him grip Bay tighter, eager to hold on to her, figuratively and literally, for fear that she'd leave.

A minute later, Bay tried to loosen his grip around her so she could head inside; it was getting kind of chilly out. He kept his tight grip on her, though, not letting her leave him just yet.

She must've sensed something in his hold, though, because she turned her body around, still within his grasp, and tipped her head up to look at him. "What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"Nothing," he said, brushing off her question. When she remained staring at him, waiting for an honest answer, he said, "I just-" and he broke off. He wasn't good at this. He wasn't good at exposing this vulnerable side of him, and his relationship with Bay had seen too many of those moments already. She'd seen him vulnerable through his parents divorce, through everything that happened with Ty, and now remembering his parents' divorce? What was he, a girl?

"You know you can tell me anything," Bay signed slowly and meaningfully, gazing into his eyes.

Aw, what the heck. "I just don't want to lose you," he confessed.

Bay tilted her head in askance. "Lose me? Why would you lose me? You're not going to lose me," she reassured him. "I'm not going anywhere."

He smiled at her, a bit wanly, but still a smile. "I know," he signed, and embraced her.

She pulled back after a few seconds and he finally released her from his grip. "C'mon," she said, grabbing his hand.

He halted, and pulled her back a little. "Wait, where are we going? I need to get home soon. My mom…"

Bay smirked at him. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course, but-"

"Then come on," she said, pulling him again. She led him into her garage and turned on the light. "Wow, Travis did a good job cleaning up. Didn't see that one coming," she said, then headed over to a corner of the garage, and taking out a painting that was covered in a small sheet of some sort.

"Remember that assignment I told you my art teacher gave us? Doing an interpretation of something meaningful to us?" Bay asked him, holding the painting close to her so he couldn't see anything. "And remember how I said I had a few ideas of what to do for it?"

Emmett nodded, indicating she should go on.

"Well, when she first gave us the assignment, I thought of using this one that I made because it really represents something meaningful to me," Bay continued, still holding the painting tightly.

Emmett nodded again, unsure where she was going with this all and why she had to tell him this now.

"But I emailed the teacher and asked her if I could hand in something that I had already done. She emailed me back an hour ago and said no and that the painting has to be something that I do new for the assignment. So I'm thinking that maybe _you_ should have this," Bay said, slowly uncovering the painting.

Emmett waited to see what was on the canvas. When it was finally revealed, his heart jumped.

Bay had painted a profile picture of two pairs of crossed arms forming an "x". He recognized one pair as his arms and the other as Bay's; the arms and chests visible in the picture clearly wearing the outfits that he and Bay had been wearing when they first told each other they loved each other. The background was painted an assortment of colors, all swirling together to make the center of the picture, the message of the picture, that much clearer.

Bay looked at him hesitantly. "What do you think?"

"This is amazing," he signed slowly, barely able to tear his gaze away from the painting.

"I'm glad you like it. It's for you to keep," Bay said, a small smile on her face at his reaction.

Emmett was honestly blown away. The pure art of the piece combined with its message was fantastic. He grabbed Bay in a heartfelt kiss, deepening the kiss after a moment.

After five minutes of making out, he regretfully pulled back. "I wish I could stay and do this all night, but I have to go."

"One night we'll do this all night," Bay said, shocking him.

"Soon?" he asked, smiling slyly.

"Soon enough," Bay laughed at him, and walked him out to his bike.

He stored the painting carefully and gave her one last passionate kiss before speeding off home. He greeted his mother briefly when he arrived, locked the door after him, and headed into his room. He didn't have a nail on his wall that he could hang the painting on, but figured he'd nail one in in the morning. He leaned the painting temporarily against the little table next to his bed, feeling happier and more content that he'd ever thought possible.

A.N. I know it's not as long as the last chapter, but I hope you guys enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you think! I probably won't be able to update for another week because I have so much to do, though. Sorry in advance!


End file.
